A year after Eternal (formerly Zomato) acquired Paytm Insider for a staggering INR 2,048 Cr, at roughly 6–7X of the latter’s FY24 revenue, the foodtech giant is struggling to justify the price tag of its ambitious ‘going-out’ bet.

While District (the app built atop that acquisition) is being touted as Eternal’s next big growth engine, its numbers paint a different picture.

In Q2 FY26, District’s revenue rose 23% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 189 Cr but declined 9% sequentially from the previous quarter.

Losses widened 19% to INR 57 Cr, erasing the profit of INR 18 Cr the business posted in the same quarter last year (Q2 FY25). For a platform once touted as the future of Eternal’s lifestyle ecosystem, its short-term performance appears far from reassuring.

Still, Eternal remains unfazed.

Backed by a 32% YoY rise in visitors and a growing base of active users, District’s evolution, as per the company, is a long game, one that will extend far beyond quarterly swings.

“Our customer base continues to expand rapidly, which is giving us the confidence to continue investing in building District as the one-stop destination in India for discovering multiple going-out use cases,” an Eternal spokesperson said during its Q2 earnings call.

So, as the company expands its going-out footprint — spanning live events, dining, retail discovery, and even a global launch in the UAE — the question isn’t just whether District can become Eternal’s next growth engine, but whether it deserves to be seen as one.

District May Be Stretching Too Thin?

In under a........

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