‘Work-Life Balance Is Essential’: RPG Group’s Harsh Goenka Slams L&T Chair’s 90-Hour Workweek Proposal

Industrialist Harsh Goenka strongly opposed L&T Chairperson SN Subrahmanyan's recent suggestion advocating a 90-hour workweek and said that working smart and hard is what he believes in.

Taking to Twitter, Goenka dismissed the idea, sarcastically proposing that Sundays be renamed "Sun-duty." He wrote, “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! #WorkSmartNotSlave.”

Goenka’s remarks come in response to Subrahmanyan’s viral video, which resurfaced on Reddit, sparking outrage and a fresh debate over work-life balance in corporate India.
 

L&T Chairman Advocates Working on Sundays
The controversy stems from an old video in which SN Subrahmanyan questioned the necessity of personal time and advocated longer work hours for productivity.

In the video, Subrahmanyan states, “I regret I am not able to make you work on Sundays, to be honest. If I can make you work on Sundays, I will be more happy, because I work on Sundays also. What do you do sitting at home? How long can you stare at your wife? How long can the wives stare at their husbands? Get to the office and start working.”
His comments, which suggest sacrificing weekends for work, have drawn sharp criticism for undermining the importance of personal and family time.
 

L&T Defends Chairman’s Remarks
Amid the backlash, L&T issued a statement defending Subrahmanyan’s comments, attributing them to the organization’s ambitious vision for India’s growth. 

The statement read: “The Chairman’s remarks reflect the larger ambition for extraordinary outcomes. At L&T, we remain committed to fostering a culture where passion, purpose, and performance drive us forward.”

The company emphasized that its work culture aims to support India's developmental goals and that extraordinary outcomes require extraordinary effort.

Also Read: 'Nation-Building...' Larsen & Toubro Defends Chairman SN Subrahmanyan's 90-Hour Work Week Push | Republic Business