'My wife is wonderful, I love staring at her': Anand Mahindra reacts to 90-hour work week debate (WATCH)

Amid the much-debated topic of work-life balance and L&T Chairman SN Subrahmanyan's recent comments advocating for 90-hour work weeks, Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra said he believed in the quality of work and not the quantity.

Addressing the Viksit Bharat Young Leaders Dialogue 2025 in the national capital, Mahindra, said that the ongoing debate was wrong because it emphasises on quantity of working hours.

"I have huge respect for Narayana Murthy (founder of Infosys) and others. So let me not get this wrong, of course. But I have to say something, I think this debate is in the wrong direction," Anand Mahindra said.

"My point is we have to focus on the quality of work, not on the quantity of work. So it's not about 48, 40 hours, it's not about 70 hours, it's not about 90 hours," he added.

Anand Mahindra was asked in a quick follow-up about how many hours he puts in. He avoided a direct answer and instead said quality was important.

"This is what I want to avoid. I don't want it to be about the time. I don't want it to be about quantity. Ask me what's the quality of my work. Don't ask me how many hours I work," he said.

Anand Mahindra, an active social media user, was also asked how much time he spends on X (formerly Twitter). To which, he responded by saying that he was not on social media to make friends but because it is an amazing business tool.

"I'm on X on social media not because I'm lonely. My wife is wonderful, I love staring at her. I spend more time. So I'm not here to make friends. I'm here because people don't understand it is an amazing business tool," he said, as audience cheered.

L&T chairman's 90-hours work week remark faces massive backlash

Earlier, Subrahmanyan had said, "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," he said in an undated video, apparently of an internal meeting, which has gone viral on social media.

"What do you do sitting at home? How long can you stare at your wife? How long can the wives stare at husbands? Get to the office and start working," he further said.

"...If you have to go on top of the world, you have to work 90 hours a week," the video has him saying.

To support his views, according to reports, Subrahmanyan shared an anecdote about a conversation he had with a Chinese individual.

According to him, the person claimed that China could surpass the United States because Chinese workers put in 90 hours a week compared to the 50 hours worked by Americans.

Earlier, Infosys founder Narayana Murthy had advocated working 70 hours a week. He also received heavy backlash on social media.