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Who is SN Subrahmanyan, L&T chairman under fire for ‘90-hour work week’ remark?
Subrahmanyan, who joined Larsen & Toubro as a Project Planning Engineer in 1984, took charge as the company's chairman and MD in October 2023.
SN Subrahmanyan, chairman of Larsen & Toubro, has drawn ire for saying that employees must work 90 hours per week, including Sundays.
From other companies, netizens to Bollywood celebrities like Deepika Padukone, many people have slammed Subrahmanyan for his remarks. The actor reposted a post about this and wrote, “Shocking to see people in such senior positions make such statements. #MentalHealthMatters.”
Who is SN Subrahmanyan?
Born in Tamil Nadu's Chennai on March 16, 1960, Subrahmanyan graduated in civil engineering from Regional Engineering College Kurukshetra, following which he pursued a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Pune's Symbiosis Institute of Business Management.
Subrahmanyan then joined L&T as a Project Planning Engineer in 1984. Later, he also completed an Executive Management programme from the London Business School.
Having been extensively mentored by industry veterans, Subrahmanyan then took greater responsibility across verticals and joined the L&T Board in 2011.
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After being promoted to various other roles like Managing Director and President, Chief Executive Officer, Subrahmanyan took charge as the chairman and MD of L&T in October 2023.
According to the L&T website, under Subrahmanyan's leadership, the company executed several successful projects like the Statue of Unity, ITER, Dual Feed Crackers, Offshore Platforms, K9 Vajra, Atal Setu, Ayodhya Ram Mandir, etc.
Notably, the L&T chairman also holds several other key options in various industry bodies, including being one of the nine founding members of the Climate Finance Leadership Initiative (CFLI) India.
He also serves as the regular honorary chairperson of the Board of Governors at the National Institute of Technology - Rourkela.
The Union Ministry of Labour and Employment appointed Subrahmanyan as the Chairman of the National Safety Council in 2021, for two years.
Awards and Accolades
Subrahmanyan has several awards and accolades to his name. The Engineering Council of India in 2024 award him with the Eminent Engineer award.
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He has won the Infrastructure and Engineering category of the Business Today-PwC India's Best CEOs ranking in March 2022 and was featured on the cover of Fortune magazine's October 2023 edition as India's best CEO.
Subrahmanyan also achieved the Top CEO (Sell Side) and the 3rd Best CEO (Overall) in the All-Asia Executive Team Survey conducted by Institutional Investor. He was honoured with the Leading Engineering Personality award from the Institution of Engineers (India) in 2014.
