By Kukil Bora -
Taxi hailing service Uber Technologies Inc. will invest an additional $1 billion in India over the next nine months as the company is bullish on the growing Indian market. Announcing the plans on Friday, the San Francisco-based company said that it would use the investment to improve operations in the country, expand its service into newer cities, and develop new products and payment solutions.
“We are extremely bullish on the Indian market and see tremendous potential here,” Amit Jain, president of Uber India, said in an emailed statement, according to Mint, a local business newspaper. “We have grown exponentially in India, a global priority market for us, that has also quickly become the largest market geographically for Uber outside the U.S.”
With the $1 billion investment, Uber is expected to compete more aggressively with local rival Ola, which recently bought its smaller opponent TaxiForSure in a $200 million deal. Ola is reportedly currently in talks to raise at least $500 million.
Uber, which launched its service in India in August 2013, said that the additional investment will help it reach more than 1 million trips a day in the next six to nine months. The company also expects to generate over 200,000 jobs in India by 2016.
Uber said that it is currently growing at a monthly rate of 40 percent in the Asian country, and is expected to grow at an even faster rate with more investments in product, hiring and payment solutions. According to the Financial Times, which first reported the investment, it was the first time the company had such a big strategy for the Indian market.
Uber currently operates in 57 countries and has an estimated value of more than $40 billion.