Meet Albinder Dhindsa: Eternal's new CEO, whom Deepinder Goyal once wanted to step aside

Albinder Dhindsa, the founder and chief executive of quick-commerce platform Blinkit, has been named the next Group CEO of Eternal, as Deepinder Goyal steps away from day-to-day executive responsibilities.

Dhindsa, widely known as “Albi” within the company, will take charge of group-level execution, operating priorities and business decisions, with Goyal remaining on the board as vice chairman.

An engineer-turned-entrepreneur, Dhindsa founded Blinkit, then called Grofers, in 2013 with Saurabh Kumar.

He later sold the company to Zomato in 2022 in an all-stock deal valued at about ₹4,447 crore.

Since the acquisition, Dhindsa has led Blinkit’s transformation into a rapid-delivery platform and steered the business to breakeven, building its supply chain, operating cadence and organisational culture.

Before starting Grofers, Dhindsa worked at Zomato as head of international expansion, where he oversaw the company’s global growth push.

He holds a Bachelor of Technology degree in civil engineering from IIT Delhi and an MBA from Columbia University.

Goyal has described Dhindsa as a “battle-hardened founder” with exceptional execution skills.

In a podcast interaction with Raj Shamani, Goyal revealed that he had once considered asking Dhindsa to step aside after the Blinkit acquisition, saying the process was part of pushing high-potential leaders to rethink entrenched ways of working.

Dhindsa eventually continued in the role, leading the rebranding from Grofers to Blinkit and scaling the business amid intense competition.

Today, Blinkit is Eternal’s largest growth engine and its biggest business vertical by net order value.

The platform became a unicorn in 2021 after raising $120 million in a funding round led by Zomato and New York-based Tiger Global.

As Group CEO, Dhindsa will own day-to-day execution, operating priorities, and business decisions.

Goyal said the leadership transition would not alter the company’s long-term strategy or culture, and that he would continue to be closely involved in areas such as strategy, leadership development, ethics and governance.

Outside work, Dhindsa is “always seen juggling a few books, enjoys playing basketball, listening to French music and eating meals prepared by his mother,” the Blinkit website says.