Uber Technologies Inc.
This deal between Uber and Telangana is the first of its kind .
Uber Technologies Inc. has signed an agreement with Telangana’s government to set up its Indian hub in Hyderabad. This hub will be the company’s largest office outside of the United States. The San Francisco based organization will be investing $50 Million (approx. 316 crores) over the duration of five years. This new investment in the newly formed state of Telangana will create thousands of Jobs as well as entrepreneurial opportunities.
This agreement is the first of its kind with any state government. Uber has now been operating in Hyderabad for 16 months and in that time Hyderabad has become the first city in the world where Uber, in an experiment, has begun to allow customer to pay in cash.
The agreement with the state of Telangana will see Uber actively take up socio-economic activities to create opportunities for women, and people from backward sections of society. A collaboration with the Telangana Academy for Skills and Knowledge is also in the books, with the aim of training as many as 2,000 skilled drivers by the end of 2016.
Uber serves as an intermediary between taxi drivers and customers
India is presently Uber’s largest market outside of the USA and as such, to head it’s operations in India, it has appointed Amit Jain, formerly the president of Rent.com, the US-based online real estate company. Uber currently operates out of 18 cities in India and is looking to expand its reach to tire 2 and tire 3 cities. This number is far beneath its biggest competitor, Ola which operates in about 65 cities.