S. N. Subrahmanyan

Some Lesser Known Facts About S. N. Subrahmanyan

• S. N. Subrahmanyan is the Chairman and Managing Director of the renowned Larsen & Toubro Group and has served on the board of directors of this multi-billion dollar company.

• Subrahmanyan is popularly known as the Vice Chairman on the boards of L&T Technology Services and LTIMindtree, chairman of L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Limited, and the director and chairperson of L&T Finance Holdings Ltd.

• He was also considered the highest-paid CEO in India, with an average salary of Rs 61.27 crore per annum (2023-24).

• S N Subrahmanyan was born and raised in a well-to-do engineer family.

• In 1984, he joined Larsen & Toubro as a project planning engineer and began working with leaders like Cheyur Ramaswamy Ramakrishnan (former Joint Managing Director, L&T), A Ramakrishna (former President & Deputy Managing Director, L&T) and K V Rangaswami (former President, ECC).

• Subrahmanyan and his wife, Meera Subrahmanyan, had opened an NGO named PRAYAS TRUST in 1996. This trust served various social welfare initiatives. Meera Subrahmanyan worked as the president of this NGO. The trust operates with nurturing and financial support from L&T’s management. His wife was the one who was backlashed on social media for his comment on the 90-hour workweek.

• In July 2011, S N Subrahmanyan was appointed as full-time Director on the L&T Board and designated as Member of the Board and Senior Executive Vice President (Construction).

• In October 2015, he was designated Deputy Managing Director & President, L&T.

• In 2017, he was promoted to Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director by the company’s board of directors. He took over the charge from former MD Anil Manibhai Naik on 1 July 2017.

  

• In February 2021, S N Subrahmanyan was appointed chairman of the National Safety Council (NSC) for a tenure of three years by the Ministry of Labour and Employment. In this role, he guided the council in playing a crucial role in ensuring workplace safety under the new Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Conditions Code, 2020.

  

• He was also one of nine founding members of Climate Finance Leadership Initiative (CFLI) India.

  

• In 2023, SNS took complete charge as Chairman and Managing Director of the Larsen & Toubro group.

• S N Subrahmanyan also served as the regular honorary chairperson of the Board of Governors at the National Institute of Technology-Rourkela. This position was offered to him by the Education Ministry of India.

• Some of the notable achievements of Larsen & Toubro under S N Subrahmanyan’s leadership include the Statue of Unity, ITER, Dual Feed Crackers, Offshore Platforms, K9 Vajra, Atal Setu, Ayodhya Ram Mandir, in the offing Bullet Train and more. Each of its projects was recognised as the ‘tallest, ’ ‘largest, ‘longest, ’ ‘smartest, ’ ‘most complex, ’ or ‘first’ in their respective categories.

• His entrepreneurial mindset expanded L&T group into diverse geographical locations, including the Middle East, Africa, and ASEAN, that established the Company’s credentials globally.

• Under his leadership, Larsen & Toubro received numerous awards. These include recognition as one of Asia’s Most Honored Companies by Institutional Investor, being titled as the Company of the Year by Business Standard in 2020, and being ranked among the world’s best employers on Forbes’ list. Additionally, in 2023, it was recognized as one of India’s Best Employers among Nation-Builders by the Great Place to Work (GPTW) Institute.

• In 2025, many renowned personalities, such as Gautam Adani, Harsh Goenka, Deepika Padukone, Anand Mahindra, Anupam Mittal, and Cyrus Poonawalla, expressed their disagreement with Subrahmanyan’s remarks about 90-hour work weeks on social media.

  

• S N Subrahmanyan was a cricket lover and a passionate runner. He was often seen speaking about the importance of physical activity through his daily walks and runs. He also supports initiatives aimed at promoting sports in India.

• Under his guidance, Larsen & Toubro founded many skill development centers to train underprivileged youth in different sectors, such as construction, manufacturing, and technology. He also worked for funding schools and providing scholarships to students for their higher studies.

• S N Subrahmanyan actively mentors young leaders within the L&T group in talent development and building leadership qualities.

• In an interview, he once mentioned that he was passionate about the world of Western and classical music.

• Despite being a famous businessman and personality, S N Subrahmanyan was not active on any social media accounts and kept his personal life private.