Author: Sarita Jena

The top beer company in India, United Breweries, has stopped sending beer to Telangana state. They made this decision because the price they are allowed to charge for their beer hasn’t changed since 2019-20, even though their costs have gone up.

Vinod Giri, the Director General of the Brewers Association of India (BAI), said that the prices set by the state government are much too low. They are actually lower than what it costs the companies to make the beer. This means that the companies are losing money.

United Breweries, known for popular brands like Kingfisher and Heineken, said they started losing money when prices stayed the same despite higher costs. They also mentioned that the state owes them a lot of money—around Rs 3,900 crore—for beer supplied earlier this year, which is making things even worse.

BAI, which represents big beer brands like United Breweries and ABInBev, wrote to the Telangana government last year to highlight these problems. They pointed out that the costs of making beer have gone up by 40% due to rising expenses. Even though a committee was formed last year to decide new prices, they have not acted on it yet.

Giri believes the Telangana government will help solve this problem quickly because the state is usually friendly to businesses. He hopes they will step in soon to fix this situation, as the beer industry is struggling to survive.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Chairman, SN Subrahmanyan, said something that has caused a lot of discussions. He suggested that employees should work 90 hours a week, which is even more than what Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy suggested earlier this year—70 hours a week. This comment was made during a chat and later shared on social media, sparking many different reactions from employees and the public.

In a video, Subrahmanyan answered a question about L&T’s six-day workweek. He shared that he wished employees could work on Sundays too because he believes hard work is necessary for success. “I regret I can’t make you work on Sundays. If I could, I would feel happier because I work on Sundays,” he said, challenging the idea of taking breaks. He questioned, “What do you do at home? How long can you just look at your family? Come to work!”

He also mentioned a conversation with a Chinese worker to back up his point. He said people in China work 90 hours a week, while Americans work just 50 hours. To be the best in the world, he believes one must work long hours.

Company Support for Chairman’s Views
After the controversy began, L&T stood by its Chairman. A spokesperson explained that L&T’s goal is to help build the nation, which needs “extraordinary effort.” They believe that with their mission to shape India’s infrastructure and technology, everyone needs to work hard during this important time for the country.

Mixed Reactions from Public
While the company supports Subrahmanyan, many people online criticized the idea. Some questioned why longer hours are being pushed when younger generations prefer having a good work-life balance. There were also reminders of Narayana Murthy suggesting a 70-hour workweek earlier this year for young workers in India.

Some voices, like billionaire Harsh Mariwala, stated that working longer hours doesn’t always mean working better. It shouldn’t just be about the number of hours but the quality of work during that time.

Concerns About Work-Life Balance
This discussion about long work hours also raises concerns about how it can affect people’s mental health. Critics worry that working so much could lead to stress and unhappiness, impacting overall well-being.

While Subrahmanyan and L&T defend longer working hours, it’s still unclear how this will affect their employees and how the argument between work-life balance and long hours will unfold.

On Thursday, the Nifty Auto index had a mixed day. While some auto companies saw their stock prices rise, others faced declines.

Bajaj Auto Ltd. led the way with a 2.25% increase, followed by Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. at 1.31%. Other gainers included Balkrishna Industries Ltd. which rose by 0.19%, and Hero MotoCorp Ltd., which was up by 0.08%.

However, not all companies were so lucky. Ashok Leyland Ltd. dropped by 3.74%, Exide Industries Ltd. went down by 1.98%, Tata Motors Ltd. decreased by 1.87%, and Samvardhana Motherson International Ltd. fell by 1.78%. Bharat Forge Ltd. also saw a loss of 1.71%.

In the end, the Nifty Auto index closed at 23,305.20, a slight dip of 0.28%. The main Nifty50 index saw a decrease of 162.46 points, settling at 23,526.50. The BSE Sensex lowered by 528.28 points, closing at 77,620.21.

Among the 50 stocks in the Nifty index, only 16 gained, while 34 lost ground.

In trading activity, Vodafone Idea, YES Bank, Zomato, Manappuram Finance, and Vishal Mega Mart were some of the most traded shares on the NSE. Notable performances included shares of SRF, Navin Fluorine, and Kalyani Forge, which hit new 52-week highs, while Pritish Nandy and other companies fell to fresh 52-week lows.