{"id":275644,"date":"2025-04-06T20:56:03","date_gmt":"2025-04-06T20:56:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/06\/want-to-beat-china-or-us-start-with-90-hour-work-weeks-harsh-goenka-backs-narayana-murthy-work-week-debate\/"},"modified":"2025-04-06T20:56:03","modified_gmt":"2025-04-06T20:56:03","slug":"want-to-beat-china-or-us-start-with-90-hour-work-weeks-harsh-goenka-backs-narayana-murthy-work-week-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/06\/want-to-beat-china-or-us-start-with-90-hour-work-weeks-harsh-goenka-backs-narayana-murthy-work-week-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"Want to beat China or US? Start with 90-hour work weeks: Harsh Goenka backs Narayana Murthy work week debate"},"content":{"rendered":"
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RPG Group<\/a> Chairman Harsh Goenka<\/a> has stepped into the ongoing conversation around India\u2019s startup culture and work ethic, aligning himself with two high-profile voices\u2014Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal<\/a> and Infosys<\/a> founder N.R. Narayana Murthy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Goenka\u2019s remarks, made via social media on 5 April, came in the wake of criticism directed at Goyal for questioning the direction of India\u2019s startup ecosystem<\/a>. The minister recently stirred a storm with his comments at the Startup Mahakumbh 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen 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\u2019t being literal\u2014they were being directional. They were asking: what are we really building?\u201d Goenka posted on X.<\/p>\n

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Goyal questions India\u2019s startup aspirations<\/h2>\n

At the Startup Mahakumbh event on 3 April, Union Minister Piyush Goyal openly criticised the priorities of some of India\u2019s new-age entrepreneurs, particularly those from wealthy backgrounds. His comments ignited debate across the business community and among startup founders.<\/p>\n

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\u201cFancy 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,\u201d Goyal said during his address.<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cAnd I have no complaint against that. But is that the destiny of India? Is the future of India satisfied with that?\u201d<\/p>\n

Goyal questioned whether simply launching lifestyle brands and wrapping them in attractive packaging under the startup label was truly serving the nation\u2019s long-term interests.<\/p>\n

The wider conversation around ambition and national direction also includes Murthy\u2019s earlier call for a 70-hour workweek\u2014an idea that sharply divided India Inc. Supporters called it a wake-up call; critics saw it as unrealistic.<\/p>\n

In January, L&T Chairman S N Subrahmanyan intensified the controversy by advocating for a 90-hour workweek, even suggesting Sundays be sacrificed for productivity. That statement further fuelled an already polarised debate.<\/p>\n

Goenka, at the time, responded with a sharp quip. \u201c90 hours a week? Why not rename Sunday to \u2018Sun-duty\u2019 and make \u2018day off\u2019 a mythical concept! Working hard and smart is what I believe in, but turning life into a perpetual office shift? That\u2019s a recipe for burnout, not success. Work-life balance<\/a> isn\u2019t optional, it\u2019s essential. Well, that\u2019s my view! #WorkSmartNotSlave,\u201d he posted on X.<\/p>\n

Despite his earlier pushback on extreme work hours, Goenka has now clarified his stance, saying Murthy and Goyal\u2019s statements were about setting a tone\u2014not setting a timer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t about glorifying burnout. It\u2019s about shifting the national mindset\u2014from ease to effort, from quick wins to long-term value,\u201d Goenka explained.<\/p>\n

He argued that India\u2019s growth must be rooted in sectors that genuinely \u201cmove the needle\u201d, rather than short-term consumer fads.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf India wants to compete with the US or China, we can\u2019t just focus on comfort, convenience, and brands. We need to build with ambition\u2014AI, deep tech, robotics, clean energy\u2014sectors that move the needle,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Goenka\u2019s intervention arrives at a crucial moment. India is trying to navigate a turbulent global trade environment, while its domestic startup sector grapples with an identity crisis. At the same time, the country is under pressure to define its own path in high-value technology, sustainability, and innovation.<\/p>\n

His comments echo a deeper question now being asked across boardrooms and policy circles alike: What kind of future is India building?<\/p>\n

And as Goenka put it, perhaps it\u2019s time to stop chasing convenience\u2014and start chasing ambition.
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RPG Group Chairman Harsh Goenka has stepped into the ongoing conversation around India\u2019s startup culture and work ethic, aligning himself with two high-profile voices\u2014Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Infosys founder N.R. Narayana Murthy. Goenka\u2019s remarks, made via social media on 5 April, came in the wake of criticism directed at Goyal for questioning the direction […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275645,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img.etimg.com\/photo\/118783427.cms","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[602],"tags":[166961,212747,212748,3443,1403,168,2610,44502,1574,83162,212745,5389,212746,5954,7025,5953,18733,83163,2885,2793,1513,4277,1396,111731],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275644"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275644"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":275646,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275644\/revisions\/275646"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}