He made Rs 7,000 crore wealth with ZERO loan. Now, he is warning Indians about 'EMI and Stress' trap

Dr. A. Velumani recently shared a tweet on three kinds of people who make money. According to him one category earns enough, but cannot manage the funds wisely, while another makes enough money and manages it well, thus leading to no financial stress. He pointed out a third category where one earns enough and also manages to grow their wealth. In a follow-up post, he shared a chart and pointed out the financial behaviour from the 1960s to the 1990s.

The Thyrocare founder shared his observations, and a chart from Paisabazaar that offers a sharp reflection on the evolving financial behaviour across generations. The graph highlights a striking trend—people are using credit products at increasingly younger ages. While those born in the 1960s waited until 47 to access credit, millennials born in the 1990s began their credit journeys by age 26. If extrapolated to Gen Z and the 2020s, we may soon see individuals engaging with credit in their early twenties or even teens.



Velumani’s commentary captures the underlying concern: the normalisation of debt is being mistaken for progress. His pointed remark—“Many feel and claim, the more the EMI, the happier is life”—sheds light on a cultural shift where consumerism and status symbols often mask underlying financial stress. By tying this to his earlier framework of three financial personas, he implies that most people fall into the first category—earning enough, but failing to manage it wisely, leading to chronic stress.

His warning is subtle yet urgent: if younger generations continue this trajectory without financial literacy and restraint, stress levels could surge by 2050, fueled by mounting EMIS and lifestyle inflation. The antidote, as Velumani suggests, lies in wise saving, intelligent investing, and mindful living—choices that lead not only to wealth, but true peace of mind.

Dr A Velumani and loan

Born in a modest village in Tamil Nadu, Dr. A. Velumani's rise to prominence is a testament to grit and frugality. After starting his career as a government research scientist, he went on to build Thyrocare Technologies—one of India’s most successful diagnostic chains—without ever taking a loan. His strategy was simple but powerful: spend less, reinvest profits, and scale sustainably.

In 2021, Velumani made headlines when he sold a majority stake in Thyrocare to PharmEasy for Rs 4,500 crore. At the time, he owned over 66% of the company—a stake built entirely through years of disciplined reinvestment, not through borrowed capital or flashy fundraising.

What sets him apart in today’s startup-fueled, loan-heavy economy is his aversion to debt. “I never borrowed money, not even once,” Velumani said in an interview to Value Research. For him, growth was never about chasing rapid expansion with risky capital. Instead, he championed what he calls incremental growth through reinvestment, believing it to be the most stable and responsible way to build a lasting business.