From a technocrat turned fraudster Ramalinga Raju's confession to the snub-nosed Nano, 2009 offered some forgettable and many memorable moments in business.

Not just the domestic turf, in the international arena too, India had its share of fame. Indians like banker Chanda Kochhar and cola queen Indra Nooyi emerged among the world's powerful, while Nagpur-born Vikram Pandit managed to remain at the helm of crisis-ravaged Citigroup.

And the high profile tussle between billionaire Ambani brothers - Mukesh and Anil - made headlines, with the siblings' battle over the pricing of gas from KG Basin moving to the Supreme Court.

Shocking the corporate world on a cool January morning, former Satyam Computer Services chairman Ramalinga Raju admitted to cooking up the company's account books over a period of nearly seven years - a period when he is estimated to have allegedly siphoned off nearly Rs 10,000 crore.

Making the Indian middle class dream of owning a car affordable, Ratan Tata's vision turned into a reality on the roads, as the much-awaited Nano hit the roads this year.

In March, Tatas officially launched Nano, the Rs one-lakh car, billed as the cheapest in the world.

Reflecting Indians' growing clout in the international stage, ICICI Bank Chief Chanda Kocchar was named among the 100 Most Powerful Women globally by Forbes magazine.

Even on the UMPP front, the sector saw the award of only one such project to Reliance Power at Tilaiya in Jharkhand.

Since then, the government has only made promises of inviting bids for four other UMPPs in the states of Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

In its second term, the UPA government has made disinvestment as the focal point. It has decided to offload its shareholding in public sector power majors like NHPC, NTPC and REC.

Stake sale

The government is geared to mop up about Rs 11,000 crore through stake sale in the country's largest power generation company. The NTPC FPO (Follow-on Public Offer) is likely to see the light of the day in February 2010.

Close on the heels of NTPC, another 'navratna' PSU Rural Electrification Corp will hit the capital market with its follow-on public offer during the same time. REC also plans to raise fresh 10 per cent equity alongwith five per cent divestment of the Centre's holding.

The disinvestment fever will continue to grip the sector in the next years as well with the central transmission utility PowerGrid next on the radar. The company in all likelihood would come up with an FPO in the first half of 2010.

Taking a cue from this trend, private power players decided to test the stock market. Perhaps, the one positive that the year saw was a flurry of Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) and FPOs.

The market was flooded with power IPOs from private power players like Adani Power, Indiabulls Power and Sajjan Jindal-led JSW energy which launched its public offer this month.

However, the sector continues to be ridden with some fundamental problems. Slack capacity addition continues to be a serious worry as it may jeopardise infrastructure as well as economic growth.

Fuel supply for the gas-based power stations was a matter of concern for the sector usually irked by coal shortage for its thermal power plants.

'Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement'

NTPC's gas-based power plants received some respite after the company signed the Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement (GSPA) with Reliance Industries for sourcing the fuel for its gas-based power plants other than Kawas and Gandhar expansion units.

Another issue which almost stalled the gas power stations in the country was the legal battle between the two Ambani Brothers and its bearing on the NTPC and Reliance Industries case in the Bombay High Court.

Though the decision on the case between the power PSU and the country's largest company by market capitalisation is still pending, NTPC has been assured fuel supply for its units other than the ones it is fighting the case for.

On the new projects front, the progress has been a tad slow, though, recently the Power Minister said that the qualifying bids for two more UMPPs would be invited very soon.

The construction work on the two of the four UMPPs so far awarded has begun. Reliance Power which bagged three of the four projects has commenced work on Sasan UMPP in Madhya Pradesh and Tata Power is also executing the Mundra project in Gujarat, first unit of which is expected during the current plan period.

Power which is the backbone of any country's infrastructure development is yet to get its due in India. The sector which has a gigantic task of providing "Electricity to All" should list its focus areas and work on them one by one.

In the coming year the vital areas would remain the same -- power capacity addition, securing fuel supplies, building more UMPPs and also disinvestment but the approach should be more dynamic.