Cyrus Mistry, who is going to take over captaincy of the $100-billion Tata Group this Friday, will be able to steer the global conglomerate well, according to a survey by Assocham.

Assocham surveyed as many as 78 chief executives and heads of domestic as well as overseas companies in the first half of December, and found around 77 per cent of those chiefs saying that they were confident that Mr. Mistry would be able to steer the conglomerate well.

The industry body surveyed company heads in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad, as well as in Singapore, London and New York.

However, many respondents warned that Mr. Mistry will also face the challenge make sure that the Tata companies are able to glide through the global slowdown. The conglomerate operates in around 80 countries, many of which are in the grip of harsh economic conditions.

Two decades after Ratan Tata took over; the conglomerate is more diversified than earlier.

In 1992, the group had a total of 21 listed companies. The number of listed companies has now hiked to 29, which includes Tata Hotels, Tata Steel, Tata Power, Tata Motors, Tata Chemicals and Tata Global Beverages. The group's holding company directly owns just a total of 14 firms.

Ratan Tata is retiring as chairman of the Tata Group on December 28, at the age of 75.