Uber strengthens India push with $250-million investment

Ride-hailing firm Uber has invested Rs 1,767 crore (around $250 million) in its India business, further committing to a market where it is going up against local startups across a range of sectors.

The investment, approved on October 29, was disclosed in a regulatory filing to the Registrar of Companies.

“This appears to be the largest piece of foreign direct investment by Uber into India till date,” said Vivek Durai, CEO and co-founder of data intelligence company Paper.vc. “Given recent statements from Uber, one could hazard a guess that this poses a more direct challenge to Swiggy than to Ola.”

The money, a company source said, will be deployed in the ride-hailing business that counts Ola as the main rival.

The cash infusion will also strengthen Uber Eats, where the San Francisco-based company is being outmatched by Swiggy and Zomato.

Uber, which has invested about $2 billion in India so far, has also consolidated its India operations under a single entity Uber India Systems.

The investment by Uber comes on the heels of Ola raising $200 million from Microsoft at a valuation of $10 billion.

Other than cab-aggregating and food delivery, the company is looking at building multiple business lines with Uber Money, which is to be launched early next year. It also has plans for an intercity bus business that will compete with MakeMyTrip-owned RedBus.

Ola, too, is looking to expand its business beyond cab-hailing to build an electric infrastructure with two-wheelers, three-wheelers, batteries, and swapping and charging infrastructure.