NEW DELHI—Uber Technologies Inc. said it would invest $1 billion
in India in the next nine months as it seeks to further expand its
business in its largest market outside the U.S. in terms of cities
in which it operates.
Amit Jain, the company's India president, said that strong
growth in that country made Uber "extremely bullish" and the
ride-hailing app expects to hit "over a million trips a day in the
next six to nine months."
The company said it aims to have 200,000 drivers in India on its
app, which connects riders with available cars, by 2016.
Mr. Jain said in a statement on Friday that the company sees
"tremendous potential" in India which is one of its "biggest
priorities, along with China and uberPOOL" a service that allows
riders to share journeys so far unavailable in India.
The announcement comes just weeks after the company promised to
invest $50 million in the next five years in India's technology hub
Hyderabad. The investment in the capital the state of Telangana
will create "thousands of jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities,"
Uber said in a statement at the start of this month.
Uber recently ramped up the number of cities served by its app
in India from 11 to 18 as it competes with local rivals for market
share in a country where car ownership is low and public transport
systems unreliable.
The company has faced regulatory roadblocks in India,
particularly in Delhi where it and services like it were banned in
December after a woman said she was raped by a driver booked
through the Uber app. The driver denies wrongdoing and is currently
on trial.
After the December ban, Uber, along with local services like it,
continued to operate in Delhi and is still locked in a court battle
over whether cars on its app are allowed to ply in the capital. A
court granted Uber interim relief from the ban earlier this month
while it applies for a license to operate in the city.
The company has said it wants to work with authorities and is
awaiting rules currently being formulated by the federal government
to regulate transport aggregators.
Write to Joanna Sugden at joanna.sugden@wsj.com
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