Come 1 February, the two companies that have most influenced the way Indians buy household essentials will have new CEOs. 

These firms changed the course of their sectors and are also among India’s 40 most valuable stocks. In fact, at roughly Rs 2.4 lakh crore, there isn’t much of a gap in their market value. 

But they couldn’t be more different in how they handle leadership transitions. One informed investors of the change a year ago. The other gave them a heads-up last week. 

Dmart, India’s second-largest supermarket chain, announced in January 2025 that chief executive Navil Noronha would step down as chief executive a year later. Eternal, India’s biggest food-and-grocery-delivery company, told the stock exchanges on 21 January that co-founder and chief executive Deepinder Goyal would end his stint within days. 

They have both been CEOs for two decades, but Dmart has been listed for twice as long as Eternal. 

Eternal’s note on Goyal’s resignation was accompanied by his statement, the somewhat flippant tone of which was in line with the timing of the announcement. Goyal said while he has the “bandwidth” to continue his role at Eternal, even as he works on his other ventures, “the expectations, legal and otherwise, of a public company CEO in India demand singular focus”. 

He also implied that this isn’t really a change: “My involvement in long-term strategy, culture, leadership development, and ethics and governance, continues. This is where I have increasingly focused lately anyway.” Goyal will now be Eternal’s vice chairman. 

Noronha’s successor, Anshul Asawa, joined Dmart from Hindustan Unilever as “CEO designate” in March 2025, almost a year before the former’s exit. 

To be fair to Eternal, the one replacing Goyal is hardly an unknown quantity. Albinder Dhindsa has overseen quick-commerce service Blinkit’s remarkable turnaround after Eternal bought it in 2022. Blinkit is Eternal in that it’s the reason the stock has soared to such heights. 

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So Eternal shareholders have no reason to wring their hands over Goyal’s replacement. While data for Indian listed companies isn’t available, among the companies on the S&P 500 index, the majority of CEO appointments are made internally, even though such promotions fell below 70% of all announcements in 2025, a first in eight years, according to research firm The Conference Board.