L&T chairman SN Subrahmanyan speaking at the CII’s Mystic South Global linkages Summit 2025 at Chennai on Tuesday (February 11). Photo: X | @CII4SR
L&T chairman sparks row again; suggests ‘schemes making workers reluctant to relocate’
Subrahmanyan says labour shortage in construction industry would impact building of India’s infrastructure; raises need for higher wages in sync with inflation
Larsen & Toubro chairman SN Subrahmanyan has sparked another debate with his statement that workers in India are not willing to relocate from their hometown for work, and the reason may be because they benefit from various government schemes.
‘Schemes affecting mobilisation of labour’
Speaking at the CII’s Mystic South Global linkages Summit 2025 at Chennai on Tuesday (February 11), Subrahmanyan said the construction industry finds it difficult to get workers since they are reluctant to travel away from their hometown. He said it is happening maybe because the workers have a preference for comfort, and that government schemes like MGNREGA, direct benefit transfers, and JAN DHAN accounts are probably affecting the mobilisation of labour.
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“Labour is not willing to move for opportunities. Maybe their local economy is doing well, maybe it is due to the various government schemes,” said the L&T chairman.
Impact on India’s infrastructure
Subrahmanyan opined that shortage of labour would impact the building of India’s infrastructure.
He said India is facing a peculiar problem of migration, with labourers not sticking on to their jobs and causing problems for employers. He highlighted the issue of attrition, saying that L&T recruits 16 lakh people though its requirement is only 4 lakh people.
‘Need for higher wages’
The L&T chairman also said that there’s a need to increase wages for labourers in India to keep it in sync with inflation. He pointed out that salaries in the Middle East are 3 to 3.5 times higher than in India, and therefore workers are attracted to companies there.
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Subrahmanyan was in the eye of a storm a couple of weeks ago for making a statement about 90-hour workweeks and suggesting that employees could go to work on Sundays also instead of “staring at their wives” at home.