Today we kick off the category winners for CNBC-TV18'sIndia Business Leader Awards. Etiquette demands ladies first. But that's not the only reason why outstanding woman business leader of the year makes for our first announcement. It's this category that the jury discussed and debated the most.

Slowly but surely it's happening…woman are becoming part of the business mainstream.

And then there are some that defy the gender norm and make it to the top because of their outstanding leadership.

We're talking of this year's nominees for the Outstanding Woman Business Leader Of The Year Award

Ace banker Chanda Kochhar, Joint Managing Director & CFO, ICICI Bank, Media Mogul Shobhana Bhartiya, Chairperson, HT Media, the country's top corporate lawyer Zia Mody, Managing Partner of her firm AZB, H A Daruwala, Managing Director & Chairperson of the Central Bank of India - a gender bender in the public sector, the force behind the national stock exchange -Deputy Managing Director Chitra Ramakrishnan, a pillar of the microfinance sector, Usha Thorat, Deputy Governor at the RBI, Manisha Girotra, the queen of deals and chairperson & managing director at UBS India, And the life of the insurance sector, Shikha Sharma, CEO, ICICI Pru Life - 8 women who walk taller than their male compatriots, powered by ambition, talent and a long list of achievements.

Picking these nominees from a list of over 20 was a very tough task for the CNBC TV18 editorial team. The jury had it worse!

Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Group, said, “I think that category took the longest and we had the most active discussion around the table on that category and there were lots of interesting names from various sectors and each one's achievements were very different from the others.”

But one woman's achievements stood out. Shikha Sharma…

The IIM Ahmedabad graduate started her career with ICICI in 1980  and went on to set up it's investment banking and retail finance businesses. In 2000 when ICICI was amongst the first in the private sector to get a life insurance license Shikha was picked to head the business. She's maintained a lead from day one and in a market of number of players, ICICI continues to be India's largest private sector life insurance company.

Kumar Mangalam Birla Chairman, Aditya Birla Group, said, "Shikha has created a business right from the scratch and she has created a business that has become clearly a market leader by a very long distance in a fiercely competitive market and a market that is very nascent. So the quality of leadership we thought, was outstanding.”

Shikha Sharma, take a bow as CNBC TV18's Woman Business Leader of the year 2007!