Zomato parent Eternal grants 64.13 lakh stock options worth Rs 211 crore to employees

Eternal Ltd., the parent company of Zomato and Blinkit, has granted 64.13 lakh stock options to employees under its various employee stock option plans (ESOPs). The Nomination and Remuneration Committee approved the allotment through a circular resolution on October 1.

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The stock options have been issued under Foodie Bay ESOP 2014, Zomato ESOP 2021, and Zomato ESOP 2024.

The largest tranche was allotted under ESOP 2021, with 41.2 lakh options, followed by 22.9 lakh under ESOP 2024. Just 72 options were allotted under ESOP 2014. Each option carries an exercise price of Rs 1 per share.

Based on Eternal’s closing price of Rs 329.45 on October 1, the value of the total grant is pegged at Rs 211.28 crore ($23.8 million). The company said the stock options are convertible into an equal number of fully paid-up equity shares of face value Rs 1 each. Options under ESOP 2014 and 2021 can be exercised within 10 years of vesting or 12 years from listing, whichever is later, while ESOP 2024 options are exercisable within 10 years of vesting.

With this allotment, Eternal has assigned about 5.59 crore stock options across its ESOP schemes in 2025 alone. As of FY25, the company employed 6,903 people on a permanent basis.

The move comes as Eternal’s shares have rallied about 19% since the start of 2025, even as its profits declined sharply. The company’s consolidated net profit fell more than 90% to Rs 25 crore in the April-June quarter, compared with Rs 253 crore a year earlier. At the same time, operating revenue surged over 70 percent to Rs 7,167 crore from Rs 4,206 crore.