BT MindRush 2025: Need to manage between professional work and family time, says Anu Aga on 70-hour work week 

As the debate about the 70-hour work week intensifies, Anu Aga, former chairperson of Thermax, says that youngsters need to manage between professional life and family time. 

“I am not happy with the word balance. When I hear the word balance, I think about row-poker.  You have to put in extra hours at work sometimes and sometimes you are needed at home. In India, it is relatively easy because so many family members help at home. I don’t think you have to balance, you have to manage yourself in line with your family and company. The company is not going to keep you if you want to have that balance like France is demanding, just a few hours,” Aga says at the free-flowing discussion titled ‘Boardroom to Impact: A Leader’s Journey’ at BT MindRush 2025. 

Aga, who hung up her boots as the chairperson of Thermax in 2004, recounted the many challenges she faced in her personal life, which ultimately paved the way for her professional life. Having lost her husband in 1996, she was asked to join the board of Thermax just three days after her husband’s demise. With CSR (corporate social responsibility) as the background in education, she was sceptical and underconfident about running the company. She views struggle as an opportunity to grow and learn. “Struggle is in everybody’s life. You can learn from it and cope with it. Your coping mechanism can be different... Don’t keep saying: Why it is me?’ Because it doesn’t have an answer and takes away lots of energy. Just accept it and learn to cope with it,” says Aga. 

The 82-year-old Aga is often credited with turning Thermax around from a struggling company into a global engineering powerhouse in energy and environment projects. 

Notably, Aga has also been recognised for her philanthropic work for social welfare. She believes in the trusteeship model of Gandhiji, “wherein the wealth you are being given is not only for your personal use but also for the good causes.” “When I was made the chairman, we decided to give a small amount to the society. This was way before CSR was made mandatory. That was a small thing. We also gave 50% of Thermax's dividend to philanthropy, and that was spent on educating the underprivileged, healthcare, and animal welfare,” says Aga. 

While advising the corporates and startups on CSR, Aga says that if corporations are doing CSR out of compulsion, there will be only one consequence. “And if, as a company, you believe in it has another bigger impact... Earlier, I didn’t like the CSR mandate. But today, seeing the money that is allowed in CSR, I think it’s a good thing,” says Aga.