Uber to invest US$1b in India: FT

“With more investments in product, hiring and payment solutions, we expect to grow at an even faster rate”, Jain said.

Online taxi booking company Uber Technologies Inc is making a big push into India with planned investments of billion (nearly Rs6,400 crore) over the next nine months.

The announcement comes just days after local rival, Ola, is said to be discussions to raise U0 million.

The companies, however, continued to operate despite the ban. Jain said Uber has hopes of boosting that number to 1 million within the next nine months.

Uber has grown swiftly in India since its launch in Bengaluru in 2013 and is now present in 18 cities.

The incident forced Uber to revise it driver screening procedure and in-app safety features.

However, the process was suspended after Uber, Chinese search engine Baidu and other investors failed to reach an agreement on Uber China’s value and their respective stakes in the unit, Tencent said. Last December, service in New Delhi was suspended after a driver was accused of rape. It operated 70,000 cabs and 30,000 auto rickshaws before the acquisitions, and the TaxiForSure purchase added 15,000 more cabs to its fleet. It has also modified its global business model to accept cash payment in some Indian cities.

The company has announced an investment of billion to scale-up operation in India.

Citing anonymous sources, The New York Times reports that Redmond contributed “a substantial amount” of the $1bn, which brings the vehicle app firm’s total valuation close to $51bn.

Jain said Uber sees its biggest growth opportunities in India and China and with its global carpooling service, uberPool.

Taxi services led by Ola and Uber are experiencing a boom in demand in a country where transport infrastructure is still creaky, and safe public and private commuting options are few.