Food delivery platform and Zomato's competitor Swiggy has made its debut on the stock market from today, i.e. 13 November. The stock has been listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) at ₹ 420, which is 7.7% higher than the IPO price of ₹ 390. On the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), Swiggy's shares opened at ₹ 412, which is 5.64% above the IPO price. This listing is also expected to provide a good value to the company's employees in the form of Employees Stock Option Plans (ESOP).

According to the company's draft red herring prospectus (DRHP), the total number of ESOPs outstanding as of September 2024 was 231 million, which is equivalent to a total of Rs 9,046.65 crore based on the IPO's upper price band of Rs 390 per share.

The move is expected to join the 'crorepati' league of about 500 employees of Swiggy, whose holdings are now worth crores of rupees. This is an important financial milestone for the company's employees. According to the Economic Times report, these employees are part of a larger group of about 5,000 employees who are going to benefit from ESOP payments. The report states that e-commerce company Flipkart has done ESOP buybacks worth a total of $1.5 billion in several installments over the last few years. Meanwhile, Swiggy's strong competitor company Zomato made 18 people crorepatis through its Rs 9,375 crore IPO. Zomato was listed on the stock market in July 2021. Apart from this, the report states that about 350 current and former employees became millionaires from Paytm's IPO in November 2021. Employees will be able to sell shares quickly due to SEBI's exemption Swiggy's DRHP report revealed that the company has introduced three ESOPs so far. These include Swiggy Employee Stock Option Scheme 2015, Swiggy Employee Stock Option 2021 and Swiggy Employee Stock Option 2024. Apart from this, Swiggy got an exemption from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in July this year, allowing its employees to sell their shares just a month after the IPO instead of waiting for the usual one-year lock-in period. The move is expected to increase their wealth creation opportunities. However, the use of ESOP will increase the liquidity of the shares, which may reduce the stake of existing shareholders. This may affect the market price of Swiggy shares.