Active Stocks
Thu Mar 28 2024 15:59:33
  1. Tata Steel share price
  2. 155.90 2.00%
  1. ICICI Bank share price
  2. 1,095.75 1.08%
  1. HDFC Bank share price
  2. 1,448.20 0.52%
  1. ITC share price
  2. 428.55 0.13%
  1. Power Grid Corporation Of India share price
  2. 277.05 2.21%
Business News/ Companies / News/  Uber appoints India chief Amit Jain as head of Asia-Pacific business
BackBack

Uber appoints India chief Amit Jain as head of Asia-Pacific business

Amit Jain, who has been designated regional general manager of Asia Pacific for Uber, will oversee the company's operations in Australia, New Zealand and North Asia as part of his new role

Amit Jain, regional general manager of Asia Pacific for Uber. Photo: Ramesh Pathania/mintPremium
Amit Jain, regional general manager of Asia Pacific for Uber. Photo: Ramesh Pathania/mint

Bengaluru:Amit Jain, who leads the India business of the world’s largest ride-hailing service Uber Technologies, has been tasked with heading its entire Asia Pacific business, signalling the company’s intention to focus on markets such as Australia and take on Indian rival Ola, which recently launched its service in that country.

Jain, who has been designated regional general manager of Asia Pacific for Uber, will oversee the company’s operations in Australia, New Zealand and North Asia as part of his new role, while continuing to manage the India and South Asia businesses. Uber appointed Jain as its India head in June 2015. Jain’s elevation comes weeks after Ola expanded its service in Australia, launching in Brisbane, Canberra and the Gold Coast. Over the coming months, Ola is expected to launch in several more cities in the country, where it has already started gaining market share at a brisk pace.

In a statement, Uber said that India and South Asia continued to be strategically important markets for the company. In an interview last year during the aftermath of co-founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick’s ouster from Uber, Jain had emphasized that India remained a priority for the company and the cab-hailing firm would double down on its investments in the country.

“Business in India is absolutely rock solid. It continues to grow at an exponential rate. We continue to grow the number of cars that are there on our platform. India continues to be a very strategic market for Uber. The investment in the India business is strong—so, nothing changes from that perspective," Jain had said in an interview on 3 July last year.

Jain’s elevation comes at a time when Uber is engaged in a bruising market share battle in the entire Asia Pacific region against local rivals such as Ola, which is backed by Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp., a common investor in both start-ups.

“I am really excited to be stepping up to lead Uber’s ridesharing operations in APAC. We have amazing people doing phenomenal work, here at Uber, and I am excited to work with them to grow and expand our business in APAC. We will remain committed offer the best ride experiences to our riders, creating sustainable economic opportunities for our driver partners, and redefining the future of urban mobility in our cities across the region," said Jain in a statement.

Mint reported on 3 May that SoftBank is in the midst of a boardroom battle with Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder and chief executive of Bengaluru-based Ola, after Aggarwal blocked a proposed deal involving Tiger Global Management selling part of its stake to SoftBank.

Mint also reported earlier on Monday that Ola is adopting a holding company structure similar to that of India’s most successful internet startup Flipkart to boost the cab-hailing company’s valuation and improve the management of its businesses. As part of its new group structure, the international business will be one of the key focus areas for Ola.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!

Catch all the Corporate news and Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.
More Less
Published: 28 May 2018, 08:50 PM IST
Next Story footLogo
Recommended For You
Switch to the Mint app for fast and personalized news - Get App

Chat with MintGenie