Indians Should Work Hard, Opt For 80-Hour Work Weeks: Ex-NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant

India's G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant has shared his two cents on the work-life balance debate. The former NITI Aayog CEO stated that India's ambition to become a $30 trillion economy means that hard work, rather than work-life balance, should be the focus.

Speaking at an event organised by Business Standard, Mr Kant said it had become "fashionable" to talk about not working hard.

"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 was quoted as saying.

Mr Kanth stated that people must work hard to deliver projects before deadlines without compromising on quality or exceeding costs.

According to Amitabh Kant, the debate around work-life balance and comments saying that Indians should not work too hard are setting the wrong example for the youth.

Mr Kant's comments came weeks after L&T Chairman SN Subrahmanyan said that Indians "must be willing to work 90 hours every week and even do their job on Sundays" to enhance the country's competitiveness at a global level.

Before SN Subrahmanyan, Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy had called for 70-hour work weeks.

In his speech, Mr Kant referenced countries like Korea and Japan, who he said achieved economic success due to a strong work ethic. He appealed to the audience that India must cultivate a similar mindset to reach its goal of becoming a world-class economy.

Amitabh Kant emphasised that work-life balance is achievable even if one works long hours.

Giving his example, the G20 Sherpa said, "I work every day, I exercise, I play golf, and I still manage to work hard. Keep aside one-and-a-half 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."

" Advocating that people should set aside one and a half hours for themselves, he said that they would still have 22.5 hours in a day.

It's not just Amitabh Kant who has said that people must work hard to better their country's economic growth levels. Tesla and SpaceX boss Elon Musk commented in February that employees at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which he is part of, work 120 hours a week.

The billionaire claimed that working on weekends was "a superpower", arguing that DOGE employees were able to win against their bureaucratic opponents since they only worked 40 hours in a week. Musk received a lot of criticism for his comments.