Deepinder Goyal has announced his decision to step down as chief executive officer of Eternal Ltd, the parent company of Zomato and Blinkit, and transition to the role of vice chairman and director, subject to shareholder approval.
Blinkit chief executive officer Albinder Singh Dhindsa will take over as Eternal’s new group CEO and key managerial personnel with effect from February 1, 2026.
The leadership change was communicated through a letter addressed to shareholders on Wednesday.
Leadership transition at the group level
Goyal said the move would allow Eternal to remain sharply focused on disciplined, core growth, while giving him the flexibility to pursue new ideas that fall outside the company’s strategic scope.
“Of late, I have found myself drawn to a set of new ideas that involve higher-risk exploration and experimentation. These are the kinds of ideas that are better pursued outside a public company like Eternal,” Goyal said in his letter.
“If these ideas belonged inside Eternal’s strategic scope, I would have pursued them within the company. They do not. Eternal deserves to remain focused, and disciplined, while exploring new areas of growth that are relevant to its current line of business,” he added.
He also said that as part of the transition, operational authority would shift decisively to Dhindsa.
“The centre of gravity for operating decisions moves to Albi. As Group CEO, he will own day-to-day execution, operating priorities, and business decisions,” Goyal wrote.
Why Goyal is stepping back
In the letter, Goyal elaborated that while he had the capacity to continue running Eternal alongside his external ventures, the regulatory and professional expectations attached to leading a listed company required complete attention.
“While I believe I personally have the bandwidth to continue what I am doing at Eternal, and also explore new ideas outside of it, the expectations, legal and otherwise, of a public company CEO in India demand singular focus,” he said.
“This transition allows Eternal to remain sharply focused, while giving me the space to explore ideas that do not fit Eternal’s risk profile.”
Continued involvement with the company
Goyal underlined that his association with the company would remain deep and long term.
“I have spent eighteen years, almost half my life, building this company. I will continue doing that,” he wrote.
He added that his collaboration with Dhindsa and co-founder Akshant Goyal would remain unchanged.
“Albi, Akshant, and I will continue to work closely together, as we always have. Our partnership, shared context, and trust remain unchanged. All our business CEOs will continue operating with the autonomy they have always had.”
Goyal said he would continue to focus on long-term strategy, organisational culture, leadership development, and ethics and governance.
“My involvement in long-term strategy, culture, leadership development, and ethics and governance, continues. This is where I have increasingly focused lately anyway.”
Shift towards higher-risk ventures
Goyal has in recent years expanded his personal investments beyond Eternal’s core businesses.
Last year, he announced plans to invest USD 25 million to scale up his venture Continue Research, which supports scientific research in health and longevity. He has also invested USD 20 million in LAT Aerospace, a startup co-founded by former Zomato chief operating officer Surobhi Das.
Explaining his motivation again in the letter, Goyal said he was increasingly drawn to “significantly higher-risk exploration and experimentation” that did not align with Eternal’s current business priorities.
“These are the kinds of ideas that are better pursued outside a public company like Eternal,” he reiterated.
Dhindsa to lead execution; Blinkit seen as key growth engine
Goyal said Dhindsa would now lead all operational and strategic execution across the group.
“As Group CEO, he will own day-to-day execution, operating priorities, and business decisions,” he said, adding that Blinkit remains Eternal’s “largest growth opportunity”.
He also reassured shareholders that his financial interests would continue to be aligned with the company’s long-term performance.
“As part of this transition, all of my unvested ESOPs will revert to the ESOP pool. This ensures that Eternal continues to have meaningful wealth-creation opportunities for its next generation of leaders, while strengthening long-term retention without incremental shareholder dilution,” Goyal said.
Long-term vision unchanged
Despite stepping back from the CEO role, Goyal said his ambitions for Eternal remained intact.
“I want Eternal to become India’s most valuable company. I want us to serve a billion customers. I want us to create the most positive impact on society. I want us to be the source of livelihoods for millions of Indians. None of that changes,” he wrote.
From Foodiebay to Eternal
Eternal was co-founded by Goyal in 2008 as Foodiebay, a restaurant discovery platform in Delhi that provided menus and reviews. The company was rebranded as Zomato in 2010 and listed on Indian stock exchanges in 2021.
Last year, the group adopted the name Eternal to reflect its broader portfolio spanning food delivery, quick commerce platform Blinkit, B2B supplies arm Hyperpure, and lifestyle and ticketing platform District.
Reflecting on the company’s journey, Goyal wrote: “Eighteen years ago, the idea that a menu scanning company could be worth tens of billions of dollars, provide livelihoods to hundreds of thousands of people, and serve millions of families daily would have seemed absurd. We helped prove it was possible. And there’s a lot in store for Eternal to do over the next few decades.”
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