Deepinder Goyal steps down as Eternal CEO, Blinkit's Albinder Dhindsa to take charge

New Delhi: Deepinder Goyal, founder of Eternal Ltd., the parent company of Zomato and Blinkit, on Tuesday announced he will step down as Group Chief Executive Officer, paving the way for Blinkit founder Albinder Dhindsa to take over the top role.

The transition, effective February 1, 2026, is subject to shareholder approval. Goyal will move into the role of Vice Chairman and continue to serve on the company’s board.

In a letter to shareholders shared through a regulatory filing and posted on X, Goyal said the decision reflects his growing interest in pursuing high-risk, experimental ideas outside the structure of a public company.

“Of late, I have found myself drawn towards high-risk ideas that are very different from Eternal’s core businesses,” he wrote. “These ideas are too experimental and risky for a large public company. Today, I am going to step away from the Group CEO role, and subject to shareholders’ approval, will remain on the board of directors as Vice Chairman.”

An important update on leadership changes at Eternal. pic.twitter.com/CALn2QQFWE

— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) January 21, 2026

Goyal, who founded Zomato and steered its evolution into the broader Eternal group, said the leadership change would preserve the company’s decentralised operating model, where individual businesses retain significant autonomy. He will continue to be involved in long-term strategy, culture building, governance and major capital allocation decisions.

Dhindsa, who currently heads Blinkit, is widely credited with transforming the quick-commerce platform into one of India’s leading players. Under his leadership, Blinkit recently reported its first quarterly Adjusted EBITDA positivity, a key milestone since its acquisition by Zomato.

“Albinder is more than capable of leading Eternal,” Goyal said, highlighting his track record in scaling operations and driving profitability.

As part of the transition, all of Goyal’s unvested employee stock options will revert to the company’s ESOP pool, a move aimed at strengthening long-term talent development while avoiding dilution for shareholders.

The announcement came alongside strong quarterly performance indicators for the group.

Eternal reported Blinkit’s maiden quarterly Adjusted EBITDA positivity, year-on-year growth of 55 per cent in B2C gross order value and 121 per cent in net order value, Zomato’s record Adjusted EBITDA margin of 5.4 per cent, and improving margins at Hyperpure.