Radhakishan Damani, the low-profile billionaire who built DMart parent Avenue Supermarts into India’s most successful homegrown retail chain, has quietly acquired shares in Eternal, the parent of food delivery giant Zomato and quick commerce upstart Blinkit.
The ownership structure of Eternal shows that Damani and his wife, Shrikantadevi Radhakishan Damani, together hold close to 47.5 million shares in the company. Shrikantadevi appears in the shareholder register with roughly 9.6 million shares (0.0997%), while Radhakishan Damani himself owns 37.9 million shares (0.3929%). Taken together, the couple controls about 0.5% of Eternal.
The move marks Damani’s rare foray into India’s booming digital consumption sector, as the DMart founder has traditionally avoided high-growth but cash-burning internet ventures. Damani, known for his disciplined value-investing style and averse to overpaying for growth, built his fortune on DMart’s model of low-cost brick-and-mortar retail.
A contrast in strategies
DMart, operated by Avenue Supermarts, has charted a cautious path online. Its ecommerce subsidiary,
DMart Ready, offers grocery delivery but on longer lead times—typically next-day or scheduled delivery slots—rather than the 10-to-20-minute fulfilment windows pioneered by Zepto, Blinkit, and Swiggy Instamart.
The company has repeatedly emphasised that its economics don’t favour hyper-fast delivery, focusing instead on expanding its network of physical stores and a small number of DMart Ready “pickup points.” Even as rivals pour billions into dark stores and logistics, DMart has resisted joining the quick commerce race, preferring to grow steadily through its profitable offline model.
.thumbnailWrapper{
width:6.62rem !important;
}
.alsoReadTitleImage{
min-width: 81px !important;
min-height: 81px !important;
}
.alsoReadMainTitleText{
font-size: 14px !important;
line-height: 20px !important;
}
.alsoReadHeadText{
font-size: 24px !important;
line-height: 20px !important;
}
}
Why Eternal?
Eternal has been one of the most aggressive players in India’s quick commerce market, with Blinkit promising sub-15-minute delivery in major metros and aggressively adding dark stores. Eternal also owns Zomato, India’s dominant food-delivery platform, and has been pitching investors on the synergies between meals, groceries, and hyperlocal retail.
Analysts say Damani’s entry could be interpreted less as a wholesale endorsement of quick commerce and more as portfolio diversification. “He may see Eternal as a way to gain exposure to a segment DMart itself is unwilling to pursue directly,” said one Mumbai-based fund manager. “It’s interesting because Damani has always been disciplined—if he’s buying, he sees value at current levels.”
Eternal’s broader shareholding
The shareholder roster of Eternal reflects both global institutional weight and domestic entrepreneurial skin in the game.
Info Edge (India), one of Zomato’s earliest backers, remains the single-largest shareholder, with about an 11% stake in Eternal.
Co-founder and chief executive Deepinder Goyal personally holds around 3.4%, cementing his position as one of the largest individual shareholders.
Large global funds, including Temasek, Vanguard, Fidelity, and the Government of Singapore, collectively own meaningful stakes, underlining Eternal’s attractiveness to long-term institutional investors.
Domestic institutions like SBI Mutual Fund and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance also feature prominently on the list.
The entry of Damani and his wife, though modest at ~0.5%, is significant for the signal it sends: one of India’s most successful offline retail entrepreneurs sees value in backing a digital-first, quick-commerce-heavy platform.
What it means
For Eternal, having one of India’s most respected retail operators as a shareholder lends credibility as it battles to prove the economics of quick commerce, said the above-quoted analyst.
For Damani, the bet may serve as a hedge against disruption—an acknowledgement that while DMart remains the country’s most efficient grocer offline, consumer habits are shifting rapidly toward doorstep delivery.
Whether this remains a passive financial stake or the beginning of deeper engagement between India’s most admired offline retailer and one of its most ambitious online players remains to be seen.
Edited by Kanishk Singh
