Narayan Murthy backs his '70-hour work per week' stance despite flak

In an interaction with CNBC TV 18, Murthy said he used to wake up at 6 am and reach office 20 minutes later and head back for home at 8:30 pm in his early days.

Murthy told the English news channel, "I used to be in the office at 6:20 am and leave the office at 8:30 pm and worked six days a week. "I know every nation that became prosperous did so through hard work."

Speaking about the values his parents had instilled in him, the billionaire business said, "My parents taught me very early in life that the only way we could hope to escape poverty was to work very, very hard – of course, assuming that one gets the best productivity from each hour of work."

In a podcast appearance, Narayana Murthy highlighted that India's work productivity ranks among the lowest globally. He urged the youth to contribute towards fostering a work culture that enables India to effectively compete on the international stage.

Murthy also drew comparisons with Japan and Germany, noting that these countries implemented longer working hours post-Second World War.

While industry players like Sajjan Jindal, Vinod Khosla, Mukesh Bandal opposed his idea, his view was opposed by the likes of Harsh Goenka.