Infotech publication Dataquest has chosen Tata Consultancy Services CEO Subramaniam Ramadorai as the 'IT man of the year 2004' and Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp for its 'pathbreaker award' for the same period.

The panel, comprising Moser Baer CMD Deepak Puri, Intel India President Ketan Sampat and Nasscom President Kiran Karnik, also chose former Department of Energy secretary N Vittal for the lifetime achievement award, a Dataquest release said on Wednesday.

"Ramadorai built and maintained a leadership position of TCS and of the Indian IT industry at large," the panelists said, adding that the year 2004 belonged to Ramadorai for making TCS one of the largest companies in India in terms of market capital whose IPO was the largest in the country's history.

For the lifetime achievement award, the panel said Vittal, during his tenure as secretary of DoE in 1990-93 "pushed through a series of initiatives that set the tone for the IT industry in India for a decade ahead."