MAM
IDC India ropes in Mahalingam Balaji as research director
MUMBAI: IDC India has announced the appointment of Mahalingam Balaji to the post of research director.
Balaji joins IDC from Hewlett-Packard India, where he was director of strategy and planning for printing and personal systems group.
He brings over 21 years of IT industry experience to IDC India, which has been gained while he was based in India and Singapore. He is an IT industry veteran with deep experience in printing, PC, servers, services, enterprise and commercial channels and various other domains.
In his previous roles, Balaji has held various leadership positions across sales, services, marketing and distribution functions, sales and marketing analytics (market modeling, next purchase likelihood, business and market intelligence and account revenue optimisation) as well as pricing analytics across enterprise, commercial and consumer markets. Academically, he is an engineer and an MBA in operations management.
“After spending two decades in various leadership roles in the vendor community, my decision to join IDC India was catalysed by its clear vision for building the best-in-class research and advisory firm in the country, the organisation’s customer centric approach and their innovative solutions for customers. I am looking to leverage my experience to enable the team to develop new and innovative solutions and serve our customer needs’ even better,” said Balaji.
IDC India is strengthening its leadership team at an opportune time with it planning significant product expansions in city level quantitative research tracker programmes, cloud services and SMB and channels focused research. Since establishing its wholly owned subsidiary in 2011, the firm has made significant strides and has a large footprint in India with three offices and 32 analysts and consultants serve its clients through research and advisory services.
Venu Reddy, the incumbent, has moved into a new role within IDC and is now managing the global IDC Center of Excellence based out of Bangalore in the role of a general manager. In his new role, he is leading teams which serve various strategic business units of IDC. He continues to also support the IDC India business episodically.
IDC’s vice president and general manager– South Asia Jaideep Mehta said, “We are delighted by Balaji’s decision to join our team. He brings significant heft and gravitas to the research organization. Under his leadership, we plan to accelerate our product development cycles and bring new innovations to the market, faster. Balaji is a real talent and will add further depth and heft to the research and advisory team at IDC India. I take this opportunity to wish him every success and welcome him to the team. I also take this opportunity to wish Venu Reddy well in his new role, and thank him for his invaluable contribution to the development of IDC in India and South Asia.”
Brands
RPSG’s Sudhir Langer exits days before IPL 2026
Timing sharpens focus on stake sale buzz and LSG’s tightening financial playbook
MUMBAI: RPSG ( RP-Sanjiv Goenka) Ventures has sprung a late leadership surprise just as the IPL drumroll begins. Sudhir Langer will step down as whole-time director and from the board effective March 31, days after the 2026 Indian Premier League season kicks off on March 28.
The timing is hard to ignore. RPSG Ventures owns Lucknow Super Giants, and Langer’s exit lands in a narrow pre-tournament window when operational focus is typically at its peak.
The move also coincides with chatter around a potential stake sale. According to a Moneycontrol report, the RPSG Group, led by Sanjiv Goenka, is exploring options to offload up to a 15 per cent stake in the franchise. There has been no official confirmation.
RPSG had acquired the Lucknow franchise in November 2021 for Rs 7,090 crore, among the highest bids in IPL history. The team operates under RPSG Sports Private Limited and carries a sizeable annual franchise fee obligation of Rs 709 crore through FY31.
Financials underline both scale and strain. The franchise remains heavily reliant on central revenue distribution from the Board of Control for Cricket in India. In H1 FY26, it received Rs 399 crore as its share of franchise rights, compared with Rs 458 crore in FY25, the single largest contributor to income.
Total revenue for H1 FY26 stood at Rs 495.9 crore, with profit at Rs 63.7 crore. Yet FY25 saw a softer showing: revenue fell about 20 per cent to Rs 557 crore, weighed down by fewer matches and a lower league finish in the 2024 season. Growth has since been modest, with H1 FY26 revenue rising roughly 3 per cent year on year.
That leaves LSG balancing on a familiar IPL tightrope: strong central inflows, volatile on-field-linked earnings and a hefty fixed fee burden.
With a leadership exit, stake-sale speculation and a new season about to begin, Goenka’s cricket bet is entering a decisive phase—where timing, performance and capital strategy will all have to click.
