Blinkit founder Albinder Dhindsa leads Rs 419-crore Eternal Esop exercise

More than 140 executives at Eternal exercised employee stock options worth Rs 419 crore over July 29 and 30, according to stock exchange disclosures made by the parent of food and grocery delivery platforms Zomato and Blinkit.

Blinkit CEO Albinder Dhindsa alone accounted for over half the value, while 31 other top executives also converted options to buy shares worth more than Rs 1 crore each.

They included restaurant grocery supply arm Hyperpure CEO Rishi Arora, former food delivery CEO Rakesh Ranjan, his successor Aditya Mangla, and corporate development head Kunal Swarup. Together, they exercised shares worth Rs 378.50 crore — forming 90% of the two-day transactions.

Nearly half of these 32 executives were from Blinkit, while the rest were split between Eternal, Zomato, Hyperpure, and going-out business District, stock market disclosures showed.

Dhindsa converted options to buy seven million Eternal shares worth Rs 214.51 crore.

His stock option exercise is conducted as per a board-approved schedule, people aware of the matter told ET.

Anshuman Das, CEO of executive search firm Longhouse, said, “Exercising stock options triggers an income tax liability at the point of conversion to shares. When the sums involved are substantial, some executives choose to hold on to their stock, aiming to cover that tax payout with gains from upside in the company’s share price.”

Among executives who exercised the option, Swarup bought stocks worth Rs 25.2 crore, while Zomato’s logistics AVP Aadish Dhakad converted options worth Rs 24.1 crore. Senior Blinkit executives Udit Gupta and Anish Srivastava have exercised stock worth Rs 14.8 crore and Rs 14.1 crore, respectively. Hyperpure’s Arora converted options to stock worth Rs 9.5 crore, while Blinkit CTO Sajal Gupta exercised options worth Rs 6.6 crore.

“For senior leaders, it is as much a strategic wealth-creation move as it is a show of confidence in the company’s long-term prospects,” Das said.

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