“Working less, you will get more, that is the utilisation of technology,” news agency PTI quoted P Rajeeve. “We are not touching the existing laws in Kerala,” he added.

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This comes at a time when the state’s ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, in power for nearly nine consecutive years so far, has been putting efforts to showcase Kerala as an investment destination.

The state attracted expressions of interest for investments worth about ₹1.53 lakh crore at the recently concluded Investor Kerala Global Summit (IKGS) in Kochi.

The government had claimed that procedures have been simplified and there will be no red tape.

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P Rajeeve also claimed that the presumption about Kerala not being suitable for industry and also being the land of strikes, militant trade unionism and red tape is not true, stating that “Kerala contributes 24 per cent of the turnover of the medical devices industry in the country.”

He added that the state’s motto for its industrial policy is “nature, people and industry.”

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The minister’s comments on reducing working hours comes at a time when industry leaders such as Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy had pitched for a 70-hour work week, while Larsen and Toubro Chairman SN Subrahmanyan called for a 90-hour work week.

Narayana Murthy’s 70-hour work week remark had triggered reactions across the country, with some favouring it and many slamming it.