Blinkit Boom: Deepinder Goyal Adds ₹2,000 Cr in 2 Days as Eternal Soars Past ₹3 Lakh Cr in Market Cap
- Dr.Sanjaykumar Pawar
Table of Contents
- Introduction: A Quick-Commerce Revolution
- Understanding Blinkit and Eternal
- Q1 FY26 Flashpoint: Blinkit Surpasses Zomato
- The Market Reaction
- Drivers Behind the Spike
- Economic & Consumer Impacts
- Profitability vs. Growth Trade-Offs
- Strategic Outlook for Eternal
- Conclusion: Redefining Quick-Commerce
- FAQs
1. Introduction: A Quick-Commerce Revolution
In July 2025, India’s fast-paced digital economy hit a remarkable milestone. Eternal Limited, formerly known as Zomato, stunned the markets by surging over 21% in just two trading sessions. The catalyst? Blinkit—its ultra-fast grocery delivery arm—achieved a major breakthrough by surpassing Zomato’s own food delivery business in Net Order Value (NOV). For the first time, a quick-commerce platform outpaced a well-established food delivery service, signaling a profound change in consumer behavior and investor priorities.
This shift didn’t just move markets—it made headlines. Eternal CEO Deepinder Goyal saw his personal net worth rise by an eye-popping ₹2,000 crore almost overnight. The reason: investors are betting big on the future of quick commerce, where speed, convenience, and hyperlocal logistics define the next phase of online retail.
In an economy where consumer expectations are evolving rapidly, Blinkit's success story reflects a broader transformation across India’s digital retail sector. As dark stores multiply and 10-minute deliveries become the norm, Eternal’s pivot is more than a strategic move—it’s a signal that quick-commerce is here to stay. For Goyal and his investors, the Blinkit boom is more than luck—it’s a revolution in motion.
2. Understanding Blinkit and Eternal
What is Blinkit?
Blinkit, formerly known as Grofers, is one of India’s earliest and most ambitious players in the quick-commerce space. The platform has completely redefined the way urban India shops for daily essentials. Imagine ordering milk, bread, fruits, or even medicines—and getting them delivered at your doorstep in just 10 minutes. That’s the Blinkit promise.
Founded in 2013 by Albinder Dhindsa and Saurabh Kumar, Blinkit started as a conventional online grocery delivery app but pivoted to quick-commerce in 2021. This pivot was powered by a smart and scalable "dark store" model—mini-warehouses strategically located within urban neighborhoods. These stores stock high-demand products and are optimized for ultra-fast order fulfillment. The company’s ability to scale rapidly while maintaining delivery times of under 10 minutes has earned it a dominant position in India’s instant commerce race.
Eternal Limited: The Parent Powerhouse
Eternal Limited, formerly Zomato Limited, is the publicly listed parent company behind Blinkit. Eternal has evolved far beyond its roots as a food delivery platform. Today, it operates multiple verticals—Zomato (food delivery), Hyperpure (restaurant supply chain logistics), District (event ticketing), and Blinkit (quick commerce). This diversification is part of Eternal’s strategy to become a full-stack digital consumer platform.
Under CEO Deepinder Goyal’s leadership, Eternal’s bold bet on Blinkit is paying off. With Blinkit now overtaking Zomato in Net Order Value, the company is clearly pivoting toward what could be India’s most transformative e-commerce frontier. Eternal’s ecosystem now touches everything from your dinner plate to your concert seat and daily groceries—cementing its role as a powerhouse in the Indian digital economy.
3. Q1 FY26 Flashpoint: Blinkit Surpasses Zomato
The first quarter of FY26 marked a turning point for Eternal Limited, as its quick-commerce arm Blinkit outshined its original flagship, Zomato, for the very first time. This wasn’t just a numbers game—it was a strong signal that Indian consumers are leaning toward speed and convenience over traditional online food ordering. Blinkit, with its 10-minute delivery promise, is officially the company’s new star performer.
Net Order Value (NOV) Breakthrough
In Q1 FY26, Blinkit recorded a Net Order Value (NOV) of ₹9,203 crore, overtaking Zomato’s ₹8,967 crore. This is a watershed moment for Eternal, proving that its heavy investment in Blinkit's infrastructure and dark-store expansion is paying off. For a company that started as a food delivery platform, seeing its grocery delivery business take the lead is both surprising and strategic. It reflects a fundamental shift in urban consumer behavior, where people now expect essentials at lightning speed.
Revenue & Gross Order Value (GOV) Comparison
The story doesn’t stop at NOV. Blinkit also surpassed Zomato in Gross Order Value (GOV), reporting ₹11,821 crore compared to Zomato’s ₹10,769 crore. In terms of revenue, Blinkit pulled in ₹2,400 crore—slightly ahead of Zomato’s ₹2,261 crore.
What this data reveals is clear: Blinkit is no longer just a high-potential bet for Eternal—it’s a driving force. Its consistent performance, fueled by operational efficiency and changing consumer habits, positions it as the company’s next big growth engine. The shift isn’t just internal; it's symbolic of how quick-commerce is redefining the future of e-commerce in India.
4. The Market Reaction
The stock market’s response to Blinkit’s Q1 FY26 performance was nothing short of extraordinary. Investors cheered Eternal Limited’s quick-commerce success story, sending its share price soaring over 21% in just two trading sessions. This wasn't just a routine rally—it marked one of the most significant movements in India’s tech stock space this year, underlining growing confidence in the future of quick-commerce.
₹2,000 Crore Net-Worth Explosion
For Eternal’s co-founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal, this surge came with a massive personal windfall. Holding a 3.83% stake in the company, Goyal saw his net worth skyrocket by ₹2,000 crore in just 48 hours, as Eternal’s stock touched an all-time high of ₹311.60 on the NSE. His total net worth now stands at an estimated ₹11,515 crore (~$1.9 billion), according to Forbes’ real-time billionaire rankings. This leap not only reaffirms his position among India's most successful startup founders but also reflects the scale of investor trust in his vision.
Market Capitalization Milestone
Eternal’s valuation story became even more impressive as its market capitalization crossed ₹3 lakh crore for the first time. This milestone places it above legacy heavyweights like Wipro, Nestle India, and Tata Motors—companies that have dominated India’s corporate landscape for decades. It’s a powerful reminder that digital-first, tech-driven platforms are now rewriting the rules of the Indian economy.
As retail and institutional investors alike flock to Eternal, it’s clear that Blinkit’s momentum has turned into a full-blown market phenomenon. The combination of innovation, execution, and a deep understanding of consumer behavior is helping Eternal not just disrupt markets—but dominate them.
5. Drivers Behind the Spike
Eternal Limited’s meteoric rise in July 2025 wasn’t just fueled by luck—it was the result of a well-executed strategy, bold leadership, and growing institutional confidence in Blinkit’s business model. Behind the impressive stock surge lies a powerful combination of rapid infrastructure expansion, strategic clarity, and strong market endorsements.
Aggressive Expansion & Dark Store Strategy
Blinkit’s success is tightly linked to its dark store model—a network of mini-warehouses located within neighborhoods to enable 10-minute deliveries. In Q1 FY26 alone, Blinkit added 243 new dark stores, taking the total to approximately 1,544 across urban India. These dark stores drastically reduce delivery times and operational costs while improving order density. With a target of 2,000 stores by the end of the year, Blinkit is rapidly scaling its footprint, and that aggressive expansion is directly contributing to its Gross Order Value (GOV) and revenue growth.
Leadership & Strategic Clarity
Much of this momentum can be credited to the focused leadership of Deepinder Goyal. As CEO of Eternal, Goyal made a decisive pivot toward quick-commerce, betting big on Blinkit’s potential. Albinder Dhindsa, Blinkit’s co-founder, has been leading day-to-day operations, executing flawlessly on store expansion, supply chain efficiency, and user acquisition. Their combined vision has transformed Blinkit into a serious contender in India’s digital commerce space.
Strong Brokerage Endorsements
Top brokerages have taken notice. Jefferies upgraded Eternal to a “Buy” with a revised target price of ₹400. Goldman Sachs raised its target to ₹340, citing Blinkit’s sustained GOV growth. CLSA maintained an “Outperform” rating, increasing its target to ₹385 and calling Blinkit’s rise a “seismic shift” in Eternal’s business model.
6. Economic & Consumer Impacts
Blinkit's rapid rise isn't just transforming Eternal Limited—it’s sending ripples across the broader market and reshaping how Indian consumers shop. The impact of Blinkit’s success goes far beyond its parent company, signaling a larger shift in the quick-commerce ecosystem.
Ripple Effect Across the Market
The momentum from Blinkit's Q1 breakthrough has benefited more than just Eternal. Info Edge, which holds a 12.38% stake in Eternal, saw its own shares climb over 3%, adding significant value to its portfolio. This boost underscores how influential Eternal's performance is across connected businesses and investor networks.
Even Swiggy, Blinkit’s primary competitor in the private space, enjoyed a surge of 7% in informal markets. While not yet publicly listed, Swiggy’s perceived valuation increased as investor confidence in the quick-commerce model surged across the board. The message is clear: the market believes in the future of instant delivery.
Consumer Behavior Transformation
At the heart of Blinkit’s boom is a profound shift in how Indian consumers are shopping. Instead of planning large grocery hauls, urban users are now placing smaller, more frequent orders—whenever a need arises. Whether it’s a late-night snack, last-minute shampoo, or a forgotten medicine, Blinkit fulfills it in minutes.
This high-frequency, hyper-convenient behavior is quickly becoming the norm. Consumers are valuing speed over price, convenience over planning. Blinkit isn’t just meeting demand—it’s creating new habits. This “just-in-time” approach to everyday purchases is driving strong user retention and accelerating market adoption of quick-commerce across cities.
7. Profitability vs. Growth Trade-Offs
While Blinkit’s explosive growth has captured headlines and investor excitement, the path to profitability remains a work in progress. Eternal Limited’s Q1 FY26 financials revealed the trade-offs of scaling fast in the highly competitive quick-commerce space. The company is prioritizing long-term market dominance over short-term gains—a classic startup strategy, but not without its challenges.
Reported Losses
Despite the impressive spike in Gross Order Value (GOV) and Net Order Value (NOV), Eternal's consolidated net profit fell sharply—dropping 90% year-over-year to ₹25 crore. Blinkit alone reported an EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) loss of ₹162 crore in the quarter. These losses are primarily driven by heavy investments in infrastructure, including rapid dark store expansion, last-mile logistics, and aggressive customer acquisition through discounts and free delivery offers.
In essence, Eternal is burning cash to build scale. But unlike unplanned spending, this investment is strategic—designed to lock in market share before competition catches up.
Improving Margins
Despite the losses, there are promising signs of operational improvement. Blinkit’s EBITDA margin has improved from –2.4% to –1.8% of GOV—a subtle but important indicator that unit economics are heading in the right direction. As more dark stores reach maturity, and as order density increases in existing zones, operating efficiency naturally improves. Analysts also expect margins to get a further boost once Blinkit begins tapering off discounts and focusing on high-frequency, higher-margin items.
The bottom line? Eternal is in a growth-first, profit-later phase. And while the red ink may worry conservative investors, many experts believe this phase is a necessary step toward building a category-defining quick-commerce brand.
8.Strategic Outlook for Eternal
As Blinkit leads the charge, Eternal Limited is charting a bold, diversified roadmap that extends far beyond quick-commerce. The company’s strategy combines deepening its core strengths with expanding into high-growth adjacencies—creating a multi-vertical digital ecosystem that touches nearly every part of a consumer’s daily life.
Store Network and Fulfillment Growth
At the heart of Eternal’s growth engine is Blinkit’s dark store network. The company has set an ambitious target of 2,000 Blinkit stores by December 2025, a move aimed at saturating urban markets and driving hyperlocal fulfillment. Increasing store density will not only shorten delivery times further but also improve cost efficiency per order. As each store services a smaller radius with higher frequency, Blinkit can unlock better unit economics—a key to long-term profitability.
Beyond Food and Grocery
Eternal is not stopping at groceries and snacks. Its District vertical is gaining traction in India’s booming $1 billion+ event ticketing market, offering a seamless platform for booking concerts, sports, and cultural events.
Meanwhile, Hyperpure, Eternal’s B2B restaurant supply platform, is scaling up aggressively. It supplies fresh ingredients, packaging, and kitchen essentials—deepening Eternal’s control over its food delivery value chain and improving partner restaurant reliability.
Looking ahead, Eternal plans to extend Blinkit’s ultra-fast delivery model into new verticals such as FMCG, pharmaceuticals, and consumer electronics. This could turn Blinkit into a real-time, all-purpose utility app—delivering everything from toothpaste to phone chargers in under 10 minutes.
With its ecosystem approach, Eternal isn’t just building a business—it’s creating a digital infrastructure for modern India.
09. Conclusion: Redefining Quick-Commerce
The Blinkit boom is more than a stock market story—it reflects a deeper transformation in how urban India consumes. Under Deepinder Goyal’s visionary leadership, Eternal is evolving from a food delivery app into a multi-vertical commerce powerhouse. While short-term profitability remains under pressure, the long-term growth trajectory appears compelling. If quick-commerce is India’s next consumption wave, Eternal is riding the crest of it.
10. FAQs
Q1: What is Net Order Value (NOV)?
A: NOV is the amount Eternal earns after discounts and before taxes. It's a key metric of monetized business value.
Q2: Is Blinkit profitable?
A: Not yet. Blinkit is still in a high-growth phase. However, its loss margins are narrowing steadily.
Q3: Why did Eternal shares surge?
A: Blinkit overtook Zomato in order value, signaling a strong pivot toward quick-commerce, backed by robust analyst upgrades.
Q4: Will Blinkit’s growth hurt Zomato’s food business?
A: No. Eternal is balancing both verticals, with Zomato still showing healthy demand.
Q5: What’s next for Eternal?
A: Further expansion into Tier-2/3 cities, new Blinkit categories, and tech platform enhancements are expected in the next 2–3 quarters.
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