After a huge uproar over 70-hour and 90-hour work week suggestions by entrepreneurs such as Narayana Murthy and SN Subrahmanyan earlier this year, chairman of RPG group Harsh Goenka sought to back them through a post on X (formerly Twitter).
Harsh Goenka said they were not being “literal” but “directional”.
He also supported Union minister Piyush Goyal’s remarks on the Indian startup ecosystem, questioning young Indian billionaires for opening “ice cream and cookie” businesses, and said in order to compete with China and the US, India needs to “build with ambition”.
‘Not glorifying burnout’
Earlier this year, Infosys chairperson Narayana Murthy suggested that a 70-hour work week should be adopted in order to ensure India’s growth and compete at a global level. The sentiment was shared by L&T chairperson SN Subrahmanyan who suggested a 90-hour work week and said he would make his employees work on Sundays, too, if he could. Both their remarks drew sharp criticism from people on the internet, calling them out for not caring enough about the work-life balance of their employees.
Harsh Goenka seemingly backed these suggestions and said it is not about glorifying burnout but shifting the national mindset. “This isn’t about glorifying burnout. It’s about shifting the national mindset—from ease to effort, from quick wins to long-term value,” he said in a post on X.
Goenka also defended Union Minister Piyush Goyal’s remarks criticizing Indian start ups for not being innovative enough. “Fancy ice cream and cookies. I know at least three or four billionaires whose children make one brand or the other, very fancy ice cream and cookies, and run a very successful business,” Piyush Goyal had said at an event on April 3.
“And I have no complaint against that. But is that the destiny of India? Is the future of India satisfied with that?” Goyal added.
To this, Goenka said that Piyush Goyal and the two entrepreneurs were being “directional” and not “literal” and were questioning what we are really building.
“When Murthy and Subrahmanyan spoke of 70-90 hour work weeks and Piyush Goyal questioned startups making vegan ice creams and chasing 10-minute deliveries, they weren’t being literal—they were being directional. They were asking: what are we really building?” Goenka said in his post.
“If India wants to compete with the US or China, we can’t just focus on comfort, convenience, and brands. We need to build with ambition—AI, deep tech, robotics, clean energy—sectors that move the needle,” he added.
What Harsh Goenka said earlier
Earlier this year, SN Subrahmanyan’s remarks on making his employees work on Sundays if he could did not sit well with a lot of people, including several entrepreneurs and executives.
Harsh Goenka had reacted to Subrahmanyan’s statement and criticised his suggestion, calling work life balance “essential” and not “optional”. He added that he believed in working “hard and smart”.
“90 hours a week? Why not rename Sunday to ‘Sun-duty’ and make ‘day off’ a mythical concept! Working hard and smart is what I believe in, but turning life into a perpetual office shift? That’s a recipe for burnout, not success. Work-life balance isn’t optional, it’s essential. Well, that’s my view!” Goenka had said in his post on X.
