New Delhi: Ride hailing firm Uber on Thursday said it will continue to invest in India as it looks to grow business in the "incredibly important and core market" by up to 10 times in a decade.
On his maiden trip to India, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi indicated that he would not go by the advice of investors like SoftBank, who want the US-based firm to scale back to countries where it already has a strong market position.
Refusing to disclose how much Uber has invested in India, he said, "it is a lot and that investment is going to continue."
For Uber, India is a loss-making proposition but it will continue to invest in the market because it believes in it, he said at a media round table at the start of his two-day visit during which he is likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other leaders. Asked if SoftBank, which is also an investor in rival and India's market leader Ola, has asked Uber to focus on the profitable market, Khosrowshahi said the company's strategies are decided by the board.
"While SoftBank may have an opinion, their's is not the only opinion in the room," he said. "And it is my belief that we as a company need to have a balanced profile in terms of growth and investment."
Developed markets like the US will continue to get investments and will be profitable but Uber should "actively" invest in markets like India and Latin America because of their sheer size, he said. These markets have "huge growth ahead" for Uber, he said. Uber has some 3 lakh driver partners in 29 cities in India, he said. "We think we can increase by 5x, 10x over the next 10 years. That will require investment," he said. "In India at this point my firm belief is that the greatest value that we can create is to continue to invest and grow our product."
SoftBank Vision Fund, which recently became Uber's largest shareholder with the formal closing of a $9.3 billion investment giving it 15 per cent stake, has reportedly stated that Uber should focus on recovering its market share in the US and growing in key European markets, to have a faster path to profitability.
While India remains Uber's largest market outside of the US, it is also the biggest cost for the company.
Asked if Uber was subsidising rides in the country to capture the market, Khosrowshahi said, "anytime you are creating a market, you actually have to pay to build up liquidity."