In what will be the biggest ever simultaneous expansion in Uber’s history, the over $45 Billion-valued U.S-based cab-hailing startup has announced expansion of its Indian footprint to 7 new cities.
The expansion, focused majorly towards Tier II Indian cities includes Bhubaneswar, Coimbatore, Indore, Mysore, Nagpur, Surat and Visakhapatnam. The newest expansion will also mark Uber’s debut in many major Indian states, most notably Madhya Pradesh.
With this launch, Uber is now in 18 cities in the sub-continent, making India the company’s largest geographic market outside the US. And even though Uber’s run in the country so far has been expansively controversial, the cab hailing app notes,
The love Uber India has received from our rapidly growing base of riders and partner-drivers since we entered the market has been tremendous, and we are excited to be extending our coverage today.
Talking about how Uber chose these 7 cities in particular, Neeraj Singhal, Head of Expansion for India & the Subcontinent tells me,
Our data already shows that residents and visitors in each of these new cities have been eagerly waiting for Uber for sometime now and we expect to see a similar response here.
Singhal further claims, that despite numerous bans and controversies, Uber has seen an impressive 40% MoM growth in the country, thus making it a compelling enough reason to expand its footprint further.
Also, as a part of its new launch, Uber has come out with a new free-ride promotional strategy. New users can sign up using the promo code ‘INDIA18’ and get 3 free rides worth Rs. 200 each.
Uber further notes, that during its launch phase, availability will be limited; and you can hence expect longer ETAs than usual.
