As he exits India's leading business conglomerate,
Tata group Chairman Ratan Tata today said India's difficult economic
environment will most likely continue in the next year but its growth
will be reestablished after the present 'passing phase'.
Tata,
who turned 75 today and retired after half-a-century run in the
organisation, 21 years of it as Chairman, also asked his colleagues in a
farewell letter to show their "support", "commitment" and "dedication"
to achieve success in these somewhat difficult times.
In the
letter, Tata, who has been appointed Chairman Emeritus and passes on the
baton to 44-year-old Cyrus Mistry, told the employees to live by the
"value systems and ethical standards on which our group was founded".
"The difficult economic environment that we face in the current year
will most likely continue through most of the next year. We will
probably see continued constraints in consumer demand, over-capacity and
increased competition from imports," he said.
Tata said
there will therefore be great pressure on Tata companies to reinvent
themselves in terms of business processes and to dramatically reduce
costs, to be more aggressive in the market place and to widen their
product range to better address consumer needs. "We will also need to
contain our borrowings and work hard to retain our margins. This
environment would once again call on you for your support, your
commitment and your dedication to achieve success in these somewhat
difficult times," he said.
Tata said the seemingly gloomy
picture, however, will be a passing phase. "I feel confident that the
robust growth that India has shown over the past several years will be
re-established and the strong fundamentals in the country will result in
India once again taking its place as one of the economic success
stories of the region," he said.
