‘We spend disproportionate hours on…’: Edelweiss' Radhika Gupta draws comparison in commute between Mumbai and other cities

Radhika Gupta, the CEO of Edelweiss Asset Management Company on Friday took to X to highlight the crucial role of adequate infrastructure in fostering a productive and efficient nation. Drawing comparisons between Mumbai's extensive commute times and the considerably lesser travel time in several global cities, Gupta attempted to underline how quality infrastructure can contribute significantly to improving an individual's productivity, thereby benefiting the economy as a whole.

“Regardless of how many hours we choose to work, one thing that we spend disproportionate hours on vs many countries is commute… in Mumbai, often 3-4 hours a day, draining away so much energy. Other parts of the world are often at 15-30 minutes, or when longer, in easier conditions,” Radhika Gupta wrote on X.

Gupta went on to say that if India was to become more productive as a country, a larger emphasis needed to be placed on improving infrastructure. "Better infrastructure is going to be critical in making us a more productive nation," she wrote.

Her comment on productivity came after NR Narayana Murthy recently said in an interview that Indian youngsters should work for 70 hours every week so that India can compete with economies that have made tremendous progress in the last two to three decades. He said India’s work productivity is among the lowest in the world and that in order to compete with countries like China.

Several users commented on Gupta’s post and agreed with her views.

“True, three-four hours in traffic is too much and we simply lose health in this process - infrastructure must be key," a user wrote. “Measuring work solely in hours can be outdated and may not accurately reflect productivity or efficiency. Factors like skills, infrastructure, education, governance, innovation, and economic policies play a key role in enabling better outcomes. We seldom discuss these factors,” another one commented.

"Absolutely, our commitment to hard work is unwavering, but the significant amount of time spent commuting in metros is often more than 3 hours a day, drains our energy," a third user wrote.

"Yes - everywhere. My father would spend 4 hours to travel up and down from work - from a town to a major city. Motivate us to study and work hard so that we can avoid this toil. And now living in a big city, the travel is worse, every day," one user commented.

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