Eternal Allots ESOPs Worth INR 221 Cr To Employees

Amid a bull run for its share prices, Eternal, the parent company of Zomato and Blinkit, has allotted 64.1 Lakh stock options under its employee stock options programme (ESOP). Based on Eternal’s closing price for today (INR 328.95), the allotted options are pegged at INR 210.9 Cr ($23.7 Mn).

Eternal has allotted 41.2 lakh stock options under its ESOP 2021 and 22.9 lakh under ESOP 2024, while only 72 options were granted under the ESOP 2014 plan.

Options under ESOP 2014 and 2021 can be exercised 10 years from vesting or 12 years from listing, whichever comes later, whereas ESOP 2024 options become exercisable 10 years after vesting.

With this fresh allotment, the company has now assigned its employees about 5.69 crore stock options in 2025 across different ESOP schemes. As per Eternal’s FY25 annual report, the company had 6,903 permanent employees.

The latest ESOP allotment comes at a time when Eternal’s shares have gained significant momentum on the bourses. On a year-to-date basis, the stock has risen 19%. The company’s shares ended today’s trading session up 1.06% at INR 328.95.

The rally comes despite the company’s profit sliding in recent quarters. In Q1 FY26, Eternal’s consolidated net profit plunged over 90% to INR 25 Cr from INR 253 Cr in the same quarter of previous year. The company’s operating revenue surging over 70% to INR 7,167 Cr during the quarter under review from INR 4,206 Cr in Q1 FY25.

Notably, ESOPs have been a key strategy for Indian startups to attract talent, especially after employer branding was impacted by waves of layoffs in recent years. According to an Inc42 survey in 2024, around 55% of founders planned to leverage ESOPs to bring employees back to the startup ecosystem in 2025.

In July, Zomato rival Swiggy also allotted 38.8 Lakh equity shares under its ESOP plan. Other listed new-age tech companies who have also increased their ESOP pools this year include BlackBuckand Nykaa.

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