Uber pushes into India’s smaller cities

Photo credit: Mark Warner

Ride-hailing behemoth Uber today announced its launch in the Indian city of Lucknow, home to over 2 million people. The launch marks its entrance into the northwestern state of Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in India.

Uber is now operational in 29 cities across India and claims to have over 400,000 driver-partners plying the roads. That’s still some distance behind local rival Ola, which is present in 102 cities with 450,000 vehicles on board.

India represents the largest market for Uber outside of the US and is earmarked as a global priority.

“We are grateful to the government of Uttar Pradesh for proving to be a supportive environment to technology-led businesses and letting our vision come to fruition,” said Aditya Varma, general manager of Uber India.

Lucknow is a hub of art and culture in north India. It’s home to a large Hindu and Muslim population. Urdu and Hindi are its dominant languages.

The launch in Lucknow is part of Uber’s effort to vastly expand its presence in India, with officials saying the goal is to unlock 50 cities by the end of the year.