Zomato founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal will forgo his annual base salary of ₹3.5 crore until March 31, 2026, according to the foodtech giant's filing for its ₹8,500 crore qualified institutional placement (QIP). Notably, Goyal has not drawn his base salary since April 1, 2021.

This latest extension means he will not draw a salary for a total of five years.

"Vide letters dated March 24, 2021 and April 1, 2024, addressed to our Board, Deepinder Goyal has voluntarily waived his salary for a period starting from April 1, 2021 till March 31, 2026 and shall continue to discharge his roles and duties as managing director and chief executive officer during this period," QIP document stated.

Deepinder Goyal owns a 4.2% stake in Zomato, valued at over ₹10,000 crore as of now. The company's share price has surged by more than 300% over the past two years.

Zomato's QIP commenced on Monday, November 25, with the company setting a floor price of ₹265.91 per share. It also announced the possibility of offering a discount of up to 5% on this floor price.

Zomato's QIP is expected to attract participation from qualified institutional investors across India, Europe, and the US. These investors include SEBI-registered alternate investment funds, eligible foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), SEBI-registered mutual funds, venture capital (VC) funds, foreign VC investors, and others.

The funds raised through Zomato's QIP will be utilized as follows:

• Expansion of Blinkit's Dark Stores: ₹2,137 crore will be allocated to developing and expanding Blinkit's network of dark stores and warehouses. As of September 30, Blinkit operated 791 dark stores across 48 cities in India. Zomato plans to add more stores to bolster its existing network and enter new cities, though specific locations are yet to be decided. Each dark store, averaging 3,100 sq ft, is projected to cost ₹58 lakh, with operational expenses of ₹12 lakh per store.
• Marketing and Brand Building: ₹2,492 crore will be invested in advertising and brand-building initiatives. Zomato aims to scale up its marketing efforts, with plans to deploy the full amount by March 31, 2028.
• Technology and Cloud Infrastructure: ₹1,769 crore will be dedicated to strengthening Zomato's cloud infrastructure and technology capabilities, ensuring the platform evolves with business demands.
• General Corporate Expenses: The remaining funds will be reserved for overall corporate purposes.

 Deepinder Goyal recently grabbed attention with a job posting on his X account, seeking a "hungry" Chief of Staff. The post highlighted that the ideal candidate should possess hunger, common sense, and empathy. Initially, Goyal specified that applicants would need to contribute ₹20 lakh to Zomato's Feeding India charity but later clarified that this requirement was only meant to filter candidates.