A Velumani explains how Covid-19 testing failed us when we needed it most

The second wave has been far more explosive than anticipated, affecting over 300,000 people a day. The sheer volume of the requirement hit the industry like a tonne of bricks

A Velumani is not the most popular figure in India’s healthcare sector. When he set up his company, Thyrocare, in 1996 in Mumbai, he disrupted India’s $9 billion diagnostics industry, cutting pricing across tests. As a result, he has routinely faced accusations of his tests being substandard, false or untrustworthy, with doctors across India refusing Thyrocare results and asking patients to re-test at other labs before giving their diagnosis. Being a disruptor in any industry comes at a price.

Velumani and I first met in 2016 on the sidelines of a conference he was attending in Gurugram. We have stayed in