MUMBAI: Star India has appointed former Marico chief operating officer for rest of South Asia, Middle East & Africa Sridhar Balakrishnan as its head of distribution.

Balakrishnan replaces Krishnan Kutty, who has been made EVP and business head of the English cluster a few months back

“Distribution has been a key priority for the organisation, and we have leveraged the growing penetration of TV to drive reach of our channels across the width and breadth of this country. As cable in India gets fully digitalised and consumers get access to an array of differentiated channels and services, the opportunity to unlock value in the distribution business is huge,” Star India MD Sanjay Gupta shared in an internal mail to employees.

“It gives me great pleasure to welcome Sridhar Balakrishnan, who joins us as the head of distribution business. He will spearhead this agenda for Star.”

An alumnus of XLRI Jamshedpur and BHU, Sridhar has spent most of his 22 years of work life with Marico and has handled a variety of roles across sales, trade marketing, business finance and supply chain. In his last role as COO for rest of South Asia, Middle East & Africa, he was responsible for Marico’s multi-geography business across the business units of Bangladesh, South Asia, Middle East and Africa.