MAM
Who is Albinder Dhindsa, the new CEO of Eternal?
Gurugram: Albinder Dhindsa has never chased the spotlight. Yet from February 1, he will run Eternal, the company formerly known as Zomato, as Deepinder Goyal steps aside from the chief executive role. The choice is telling. Eternal is betting its future not on vision alone, but on execution.
Dhindsa is best known as the founder and chief executive of Blinkit, the quick-commerce business that has become Eternal’s fastest-growing engine. Under his watch, groceries went from a weekly errand to a 10-minute impulse buy, reshaping how urban India shops and forcing rivals into a costly race for speed.
His path to the corner office has been methodical. Dhindsa graduated with a BTech from IIT Delhi between 2000 and 2004, before earning an MBA from Columbia Business School in New York from 2010 to 2012. The combination of engineering discipline and global business training would later define his leadership style, analytical, data-heavy and relentless on efficiency.
Before entrepreneurship, Dhindsa built his toolkit in consulting and finance. He worked as a transportation analyst at URS Corporation from 2005 to 2007 and later as a senior associate at Cambridge Systematics until 2010. A brief stint at UBS Investment Bank in New York gave him exposure to global capital markets, experience that would prove useful in India’s cash-hungry startup ecosystem.
In 2011, he joined Zomato as head of international operations, helping the company expand beyond India. But it was his 2014 startup, Grofers, later rebranded as Blinkit, that defined his reputation. The business survived funding winters, operational misfires and a brutal pivot before emerging as a leader in quick commerce.
Over nearly 12 years, Dhindsa turned Blinkit into a machine built on dense networks, fast inventory turns and ruthless cost control. It also became central to Eternal’s expansion beyond food delivery, anchoring the group’s push into everyday commerce.
Now Dhindsa will oversee Eternal’s day-to-day operations across food delivery, quick commerce and newer verticals, while Goyal remains on the board to focus on long-term strategy.
The elevation signals a clear message from Eternal’s board. The age of experimentation is over. The age of operators has begun.
Brands
YES Bank hands the keys to SBI veteran Vinay Tonse as it bets on a new era
Former SBI managing director appointed as YES Bank’s new MD and CEO
MUMBAI: YES Bank is done rebuilding. Now it wants to grow. The private sector lender has appointed Vinay Muralidhar Tonse as managing director and chief executive officer-designate, with RBI approval secured and a start date of April 6, 2026 confirmed. The three-year term signals the bank’s intent to shift gears from crisis recovery to full-throttle expansion.
Tonse, 60, is no stranger to scale. Most recently managing director at State Bank of India, he oversaw a retail book of roughly $800bn in deposits and advances, one of the largest in the country. Before that, he ran SBI Mutual Fund from August 2020 to December 2022, a stint that saw assets under management surge from Rs 4.32 lakh crore to Rs 7.32 lakh crore across market cycles. Add stints in Singapore and four years leading SBI’s overseas operations in Osaka, and the incoming chief arrives with a genuinely global CV.
His academic grounding is equally solid: a commerce degree from St Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bengaluru, and a master’s in commerce from Bangalore University.
The appointment follows an extensive search and evaluation process by the bank’s Nomination and Remuneration Committee. NRC chairperson Nandita Gurjar said the committee unanimously backed Tonse, citing his leadership track record, governance credentials and ability to drive the bank’s next phase of transformation.
Non-executive chairman Rama Subramaniam Gandhi was unequivocal. “I am certain that Vinay Tonse, with his vast experience as a senior banker, will propel YES Bank to its next phase of growth,” Gandhi said, adding that the bank remains focused on strengthening its retail and corporate banking franchises and expanding its branch network.
Rajeev Kannan, non-executive director and senior executive at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, the bank’s largest shareholder, said Tonse’s experience across retail, corporate banking, global markets and asset management positioned him well to lead the lender. SMBC said it looks forward to working with Tonse and the board as YES Bank pursues its ambition of becoming a top-tier private sector lender anchored in strong governance and sustainable growth.
Tonse succeeds Prashant Kumar, who took the helm in March 2020 when YES Bank was in freefall following a severe financial crisis, and spent six years painstakingly stabilising the institution, rebuilding governance and restoring operational scale. Gandhi was generous: “The bank remains indebted to Prashant Kumar, who is responsible for much of what a strong financial powerhouse YES Bank is today.”
Tonse, for his part, struck a purposeful note. “Together with the board and my colleagues, I remain deeply committed to creating long-term value for all our stakeholders,” he said, pledging to build on Kumar’s foundation guided by his personal motto: Make A Difference.
Beyond the balance sheet, Tonse played cricket at college and club level and represented Karnataka in archery at the national championships — sports he credits with teaching him teamwork, situational leadership, discipline and focus. In quieter moments, he reaches for retro Kannada music, classic Hindi songs, and the crooning of Engelbert Humperdinck, Mukesh and Kishore Kumar.
YES Bank has its steady-handed rebuilder in Kumar to thank for survival. Now it has a scale-obsessed growth banker at the wheel. The next chapter starts April 6.
