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.