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Business News/ Companies / News/  Uber to set up its biggest facility outside US in Hyderabad
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Uber to set up its biggest facility outside US in Hyderabad

The proposed centre, to be made with an investment of $50 million, will initially employ about 500 people

Early in July, the company in its single largest expansion in India began operations in Bhubaneswar, Coimbatore, Indore, Mysore, Nagpur, Surat and Visakhapatnam, taking its total presence in the country to 18 cities. Photo: ReutersPremium
Early in July, the company in its single largest expansion in India began operations in Bhubaneswar, Coimbatore, Indore, Mysore, Nagpur, Surat and Visakhapatnam, taking its total presence in the country to 18 cities. Photo: Reuters

Hyderabad: US-based taxi-hailing service Uber on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding with the Telangana government to set up a technology and innovation centre in Hyderabad at an investment of $50 million over a period of five years.

The proposed centre will be the largest for the company outside the US, initially employing about 500 people and can then be scaled up in a phased manner.

Uber said the proposed facility in Hyderabad will service all of India and potentially service globally including technology development.

The government was very supportive and “willing to move quickly on the MoU with us," said Siddharth Shanker, general manager, Hyderabad for Uber.

Uber’s proposed investment in Hyderabad was largely weighed by Telangana government’s assurance of ease of regulations to do business.

Uber said it will work closely with the government to develop a new regulatory framework to be passed in the next four weeks for on-demand transportation technology aggregator services.

“They are expecting some policy support from the government," said Jayesh Ranjan, secretary, information technology, electronics and communications department, Telangana.

“As of now at a national level it is not very clear how to deal with a company like Uber because Uber doesn’t own any taxi, it’s only an aggregator. The government of India gave states the flexibility to work with aggregators in a way the state government wants to. Other state governments are not showing any positive inclination, so they chose Hyderabad," Ranjan said.

The states are empowered to prescribe conditions for the grant of license for public service vehicles, under Section 93 of the Motor Vehicles Act, which was also extended to taxi-hailing app providers such as Uber and Ola Cabs.

Uber will operate from a leased facility in Hyderabad.

Telangana government also promised to provide over around 2,000 trained drivers by the end of 2016 through the government skilling programme called the Telangana Academy for Skills and Knowledge (TASK).

Uber was launched 16 months ago in Hyderabad, but it still remains a much smaller and under-penetrated market compared to other metros like Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

Uber said through its long term commitment it will help the government of Telangana to create thousands of jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities, foster technical innovation and research into smart city initiatives and a commitment to make significant investments.

Uber competes against other taxi-hailing services such as Ola and Meru.

Early in July, the company in its single largest expansion in India began operations in Bhubaneswar, Coimbatore, Indore, Mysore, Nagpur, Surat and Visakhapatnam, taking its total presence in the country to 18 cities.

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Published: 06 Jul 2015, 05:01 PM IST
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