Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a public gathering in Hyderabad on Sunday, urging citizens and institutions to adopt fuel conservation measures amid the ongoing Middle East conflict and rising global oil prices. Modi called for using petrol, diesel, and gas with 'great restraint' and reviving Covid-era practices such as work-from-home (WFH) wherever possible, along with online meetings, virtual conferences, and reduced physical travel. According to reports from India Today Digital, Modi emphasised that restarting these systems would serve the national interest by cutting fuel consumption, lowering import bills, and saving foreign exchange. The Prime Minister also suggested using public transport, carpooling, maximising electric vehicles (EVs), postponing non-essential foreign travel, and even deferring gold purchases for a year to strengthen economic resilience. 'We have developed work from home, virtual meetings, video conferencing and many other methods during corona. We got habituated to it. The need of the hour is to resume those methods,' Modi said during the speech.
The Prime Minister's appeal has triggered an excited conversation among Bengaluru's technology workforce, with reactions ranging from hopes of avoiding traffic snarls to concerns over collaboration challenges. As reported by India Today Digital, NITES has written to the Ministry of Labour and Employment seeking an advisory directing IT and ITeS companies to allow mandatory work from home wherever operationally feasible. NITES President Harpreet Singh Saluja emphasized that 'The Indian IT sector had already successfully implemented large-scale work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic without disruption to productivity or business continuity.' The union's letter to Union Labour and Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya specifically cited that 'Employees in metropolitan cities spend several hours daily travelling despite performing work that can effectively be delivered remotely. This not only impacts physical and mental health, but also results in avoidable fuel usage and environmental burden at a time when the nation is consciously discussing conservation and efficiency.' A senior manager working with a major e-commerce platform told India Today Digital that 'Many of them asked me directly if the company would consider WFH again. While saving fuel and cutting commute time is great, I told them that prolonged WFH also reduces team collaboration. But if the fuel crisis worsens, we will obviously consider WFH again, like in Covid pandemic.'
Major corporations are responding proactively to the Prime Minister's appeal by expanding remote work options. RPG Group already has a 50% WFH policy and a hybrid model, with chairman Harsh Goenka stating on social media that 'PM Modi has urged citizens to help the nation by reducing avoidable imports; conserving fuel and energy; supporting work-from-home where possible.' A Mumbai-based conglomerate with interests in the Middle East has implemented restrictions on non-critical travel both within the country and abroad, though it has no plans to start WFH given the nature of its industry. Axis Bank has had people in non-customer-facing roles working in hybrid mode since FY21, with only two days a week required in the office. Mercedes-Benz India employees currently work from home as part of their flexible working model, with managing director and CEO Santosh Iyer stating 'We also proactively optimize business travel to ensure only business critical travel is undertaken.' Diageo India (USL) will continue to prioritise hybrid working and virtual meetings over in-person engagements, with business travel restricted to essential purposes only.
According to a Moneycontrol report, industry executives expect most companies to stick to their current hybrid models rather than roll back return-to-office policies. Pareekh Jain, CEO and lead analyst at EIIRTrend, stated that 'Companies that had stricter return-to-office mandates are likely to become more flexible rather than risk being seen as going against national interest.' The $315-billion technology industry continues to operate on well-established hybrid models, with work-from-home and office attendance calibrated according to role requirements and customer needs. However, as noted by India Today Digital, a senior manager emphasized that 'WFH helps individuals and companies cut costs, but it also affects local businesses, restaurants, and transport sectors that rely on daily commuters.'
As reported by Upstox, IT industry body Nasscom said technology firms are already adopting prudent energy management measures, including enabling remote or hybrid work where operationally appropriate. The industry body stated that 'In light of the ongoing Middle East tensions, companies have adopted prudent energy management measures across campuses, including optimising non-essential consumption, rationalising select facility services, and enabling remote or hybrid work where operationally appropriate to reduce overall energy usage and commuting.' These measures demonstrate the sector's proactive response to the current energy crisis, with many Bengaluru techies already finding it redundant to travel to offices only to sit at nearly identical setups at home. Nasscom said companies were adopting energy optimisation measures across campuses, including rationalising non-essential energy consumption and reducing commuting requirements where feasible. 'While this remains an evolving situation, we are closely monitoring developments and remain engaged with industry stakeholders and government authorities to ensure a coordinated and responsible response,' Nasscom's statement read. NASSCOM issued a statement saying that the tech industry 'continues to operate on well-established hybrid work models, with organisations calibrating work-from-home and in-office arrangements based on role requirements and customer needs.'
The latest developments have once again brought work-from-home discussions back into focus nearly six years after the pandemic triggered one of the largest remote-working shifts in corporate India. In 2020, IT companies including TCS, Infosys and Wipro moved lakhs of employees to remote operations almost overnight as lockdowns shut campuses and offices across the country. However, the sector has gradually shifted back toward office-led hybrid models over the last two years. Wipro announced changes in its hybrid model earlier this year, where employees must come to office thrice a week and stay in the office for at least 6 hours on those days. Infosys made four-days-a-week at office mandatory for certain units, while TCS had introduced its '25/25' vision during the pandemic, under which only 25% of employees would need to work from office by 2025. Despite these shifts, the current crisis has renewed focus on the sector's proven ability to maintain operations remotely, with the union emphasizing that remote work can help reduce fuel consumption, ease traffic congestion and support national efforts to conserve foreign exchange reserves at a time of geopolitical uncertainty and rising crude oil prices.
