Uber is driving in $1 billion into India, this is why

It might not be much in value terms considering the fact that Uber’s growth in India is driven by offering really affordable cab services in 18 cities, but that is a significant enough number for the company to be serious about this market.

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“Uber has grown exponentially in India, a global priority market for us, which has also quickly become the largest market geographically for Uber outside the US. We are continuing to see robust 40% growth MoM and with more investment in product, hiring, and payment solutions, we expect to grow at an even faster rate. With this investment and the strong rate of growth we are seeing, we expect to hit over 1 million trips per day in the next six to nine months,” Amit Jain, President, Uber India, said in the release.

Uber Technologies Inc started by launching their services in Bangalore and has in the 20 months since spread to 18 cities with multiple services like UberGO and UberAuto. It has also has serious run-ins with the law with at least two cases of drivers hailed through the service attacking passerngers. The company also had issues with its payment mechanism which allowed deduction from credit cards even though the Reserve Bank of India mandates two step authentication in the country.

“We are extremely bullish on the Indian market and see tremendous potential here. India is one of Uber’s big priorities, along with China and uberPOOL. All three have the ability to significantly improve people’s lives, as well as build a great business. This is why Uber is committing an additional $1 billion to India in the next nine months so we can expand and improve our operations, expand into newer cities, develop new products as well as payment solutions, and establish a great support network,” Jain said in a release.

Meanwhile, the company claims it wil be able to generate 2,00,000 jobs in India by 2016.