Uber invests $1bn in India to battle rival Ola
Uber has announced a $1bn (£640m) investment in India, the ride-hailing app’s fastest-growing market.
India is already Uber’s largest market outside the US, after it expanded to 18 cities in two years, posting 40 per cent month-on-month growth. The company will use the investment to expand further, putting it in direct competition with local taxi-hailing company Ola, which is already present in over 100 cities.
Amit Jain, president of Uber India, said in a statement:
We are extremely bullish on the Indian market and see tremendous potential here. With this investment and the strong rate of growth we are seeing, we expect to hit over 1m trips per day in the next six to nine months.
Today, estimates put daily Uber journeys in India at around 200,000. The company aims to have created 200,000 new jobs in the country by 2016.
Uber launched in India in 2013, but its safety routines have come under fire after one of its drivers was accused of raping a female passenger, causing it to be temporarily banned in the country.