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Uber
said it would use the additional investment to improve
operations, expand beyond the 18 Indian cities where it now
operates, and develop new products and payment solutions.
"We are extremely bullish on the Indian market and see
tremendous potential here," Amit Jain, president of Uber India
said in a statement on Friday.
"Uber has grown exponentially in India."
Uber said India and China are its priority markets. It had said
last month that it would invest more than $1 billion in China
this year as it looks to rev up growth in the world's second
largest economy.
Uber operates in 57 countries, with an estimated value of more
than $40 billion. But it has tangled with transport authorities
across the globe, along with attorneys seeking to deem Uber
drivers as employees entitled to benefits.
In India, Uber has been at odds with authorities in the capital,
New Delhi, where the government banned its services after an
Uber driver was accused of rape in December. But a court revoked
the ban this month.
After the incident, Uber tightened its driver screening and
in-app safety features. It has also modified its global business
model to accept cash payment in some Indian cities.
The company on Friday said it aimed to attain 1 million rides
daily in India within six to nine months. An industry source
said Uber now records 200,000 trips daily.
(Reporting by Shivam Srivastava and Rama Venkat Raman in
Bengaluru, Aditya Kalra in New Delhi; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi
and Clarence Fernandez)
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