Ride hailing firm Uber on Thursday said it will continue to invest in India as it looks to grow business in the “incredibly important and core market’ by up to 10 times in a decade.
On his maiden trip to India, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi indicated that he would not go by the advice of investors like SoftBank, who want the US-based firm to scale back to countries where it already has a strong market position.
Refusing to disclose how much Uber has invested in India, he said, “it is a lot and that investment is going to continue.” Uber has some 3 lakh driver partners in 29 cities in India.
For Uber, India is a loss-making proposition but it will continue to invest in the market because it believes in it, he said at the start of his two-day visit during which he is likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other leaders.
Asked if SoftBank, which is also an investor in rival and India’s market leader Ola, has asked Uber to focus on the profitable market,
Khosrowshahi said the company’s strategies are decided by the board. “While SoftBank may have an opinion, their’s is not the only opinion in the room,” he said. “And it is my belief that we as a company need to have a balanced profile in terms of growth and investment.”