India’s ambition to grow from a $4 trillion to a $30 trillion economy requires relentless effort, not a fixation on work-life balance, former Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said on Thursday. Speaking at the BS Manthan Summit, Kant stressed that hard work, not leisure, will drive India’s economic transformation.
“I strongly believe in hard work. Indians must work hard, whether it's 80 hours or 90 hours a week. If your ambition is to move from a $4 trillion to a $30 trillion economy, you can’t do it through entertainment or by following the views of some film stars,” he stated.
Kant pointed to nations like Japan, Korea, and Canada, crediting their economic success to a disciplined work ethic. He said India must adopt a similar mindset to deliver projects with world-class excellence. “We have made it fashionable to talk about not working hard. Why? India must work hard to deliver projects ahead of time, with world-class excellence, without time and cost overruns,” he said.
On work-life balance, Kant dismissed concerns that long work hours leave no room for personal well-being. “I work every day, I exercise, I play golf, and I still manage to work hard. Keep aside one-and-a-half hours for yourself, and you still have 22.5 hours in a day. There’s plenty of time to manage work-life balance, but don’t make it fashionable to say people shouldn’t work hard,” he said.
His comments add to an ongoing debate over long working hours in India. L&T Chairperson SN Subrahmanyan recently suggested employees should work 90 hours a week, even on Sundays. Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy made a similar argument in October 2023, calling for a 70-hour work week for India’s youth. However, in January, Murthy softened his stance, saying no one should impose long hours on others, and that individuals must decide for themselves.
"I can say that I used to get to the office at 6.20 am and I used to leave at 8.30 pm. That's a fact, I have done it. Nobody can say no, that's wrong. I have done it for 40-odd years. I think these are not issues that should be discussed and debated. These are issues that one can introspect on, one can ingest and one can come to some conclusion and do whatever they want. That's all to it. There's nobody who can say, you should do it, you should not do it, no," Murthy said at the Kilachand Memorial Lecture in Mumbai.