Eternal hikes board pay by 316%, slashes average employee salaries in FY25
Eternal Ltd's founder Deepinder Goyal has voluntarily waived his salary from April 1, 2021, to March 23, 2026. Chief Financial Officer Akshant Goyal has also voluntarily forgone his salary since January 1, 2022.
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Eternal Limited, formerly known as Zomato Ltd, increased the annual remuneration of its non-executive and independent directors by 316.67% in fiscal year 2025. The annual remuneration for non-executive independent directors Kaushik Dutta, Aparna Popat Ved, and Namit Gupta Sutap rose from Rs 24 lakh in FY24 to Rs 1 crore in FY25, as approved by the company's shareholders in August last year. The remuneration excludes sitting fees, according to the company's annual report.
Company's founder Deepinder Goyal has voluntarily waived his salary from April 1, 2021, to March 23, 2026. Chief Financial Officer Akshant Goyal has also voluntarily forgone his salary since January 1, 2022.
While non-executive directors' pay rose sharply, the average salary of employees other than managerial personnel declined by 22.99% on a standalone basis and 26.05% on a consolidated basis. Eternal's consolidated business includes Zomato (food delivery platform), blinkit (Quick commerce platform), District (Going-out and event business), and Hyperpure (B2B Supplies business).
The overall median remuneration of employees also fell by 27.26% on a standalone basis and 31.75% on a consolidated basis as on March 31, 2025. The company attributed this decline to a higher proportion of lower salaried employees in its workforce. "The decrease in overall median remuneration and average percentile is due to a higher proportion of lower-salary employees, including customer support and operations," Eternal's annual report stated.
As of March 31, 2025, Eternal Ltd had 6,903 permanent employees on a standalone basis. Including its other businesses--Blinkit, Hyperpure, and District, the total number of permanent employees stood at 16,375.
Despite the dip in median pay, employee benefits expenses increased 54% year-on-year to Rs 2,558 crore in FY25, driven by salaries, wages, bonuses, and share-based compensation paid to on-roll employees across all business units. Eternal attributed the increase to annual increments and a 105% year-on-year rise in total headcount, reaching to 16,868 in FY25.
Eternal claimed that it ramped up hiring in its quick commerce vertical Blinkit during FY25, and is currently scaling operations at District. The company acquired Paytm's ticketing business for Rs 2,048.4 crore last year to expand its ticketing and entertainment offerings, which is now part of District vertical.
Eternal's consolidated profit after tax climbed to Rs 527 crore in FY25 from Rs 351 crore in FY24. However, the adjusted EBITDA of the company surged to Rs 1,079 crore during the year.
According to the company, the increase in PAT was lower than the increase in Adjusted EBITDA, mainly due to an increase in depreciation and amortization expense in the quick commerce business.
Meanwhile, the consolidated cash balance of the company stood at Rs 18,824 crore as of 31 March 2025.
