The icons of India blazing in the yr 2009, ..succeeded in steadying their ships during the financial storm

Chandra Kochhar, CEO,ICICI bank
for KOcchar , the elevation to the top at the banks was almost like baptism by fire. As she took over the wheels, colleagues and trusted aides quit in a huff leaving her with very few hands on the deck. Thankfully, her rise to top coincided with the global credit crunch showing signs of abating. to her credit, she has been able to staedy the ship the ship, but now she has to chart a new growth path.

Keki Mistry,CEO , HDFC Ltd
taking the hot seat vacated by none other than Deepak Parekh is no mean job. from today, Mistry is about to do exactly that.Add to in the fact for HDFC, India's home finance pioneer, competition is growing at every corner. while intrest rates are showing no signs of stabilising, the real estate sector is still on shaky grounds.

Nandan Nilekani,chairman ,UIDAI
An enormous amount of expectation and hope is riding on Nilekani's new project tp issue an unique indetification number for every indian, the man, who together with N R Narayana Murthy, was instrumenatal in building Infosys into the powerhouse it is today, has quite a different task in this new role with the govt. but those who have worked with him closely say his ability to carry people with him closely say his ability to visyualise solutions to complex issues, his ability to carry people with him and his experiance with project implementation will enable him to meet the country's expectations.

A Vellayan, executive chairma,The Murugappa group
Representing the 4th generation of promoters, vellayan has a huge challange up his sleeve. An ace in meticulous planning, he has an advantage as he took the call to expand the agri-buisness, which has become a key driver for the group. Now, vellayan has to find other growth engines and also groom the next generation of family members into the buisness.

Shikha Sharma, CEO, Axis Bank
Sharma's exit from ICICI bank and entry into Axis bank, both were on a not- so- sweet note. going forward, the competition and the comparision between the two banks will get more intense and more intresting. Now Sharma has to prove her mettle without the guidance of K V Kamath and move Axis into another orbit which was known as an institution built by P J Nayak.

Gautam Banerjee, chairman, pricewaterhousecopers
Gautma Banerjee's position is quite unenviable. on the one hand, the professional services firm got entangled in the Satyam Scam, aand on the other hand, it is faced with exits of key parteners like Dinesh Kanabar.Banerjee, who has just about taken over as chairman of the firm, will have to use all his skills to not only keep the flock together, but also refurbish PwC's image to regain its glory

N Chandrasekaran, CEO, TCS
P M Telang, CEO, Tata Motors
H M Nerurkar, CEO, Tata Steel
They are the old hands at Tata Motors, Tata Steel and Tata Consultancy services. having been with the companies for the best part of their working life, they know their industry like the back of their hand. Praksah telang, 61, and H M Nerurkar, ^! and N chandrsekaran 46, are the new face of Tata group's automobile, steel and software companies rfespectively. the three companies contribute over 70% to the Tata group's revenues. all three leaders face their own set of challanges- tackling global economic feature prominently among them.