Uber makes India a priority, appoints country president to speed progress

Uber has appointed Amit Jain, a former Rent executive, as its India president. A computer science engineer and a management grad, Jain will be responsible for business strategy, operations, and growth in a market that is of global strategic importance to Uber.

For Uber, India is the “largest and fastest growing market” outside its home country, the United States. The taxi-hailing firm’s India revenue run rate is close to US$200 million. It launched operations in the country about a year and a half ago and has presences in 11 cities.

Uber has teams to run operations in each of these cities, but has previously not appointed a country lead for India. The company’s strategy has been to hire local entrepreneurs who run Uber as an independent startup operation in their respective cities, with a general manager, operations manager, and community manager on the ground.

Jain will now head all of Uber India’s operations as president. He had previously been president of Rent, a US-based home renting platform. His experience also involves numerous executive positions including senior advisor for TPG Capital, vice president of Nexeo Solutions, and associate partner at McKinsey & Company.

Expansion mode

“Success in India is a global priority for us,” says Uber CEO Travis Kalanick in a statement today. “Amit embodies the entrepreneurial spirit and culture at Uber. His experience as an operator, building and scaling world-class teams will be invaluable as we enter the next phase of Uber India’s growth.”

In India, Uber has run into several controversies and faced regulatory hurdles. Late last year, an alleged rape commited by an Uber driver turned the spotlight on the company’s hiring practices; the accused driver turned out to be a repeat sex offender.

Yet incidents like these do not seem to halt Uber’s ambition to win in India. The company has been on a rapid hiring spree. Beyond the appointment of Jain, it is also hiring regional managers. Uber adding a layer of country- and regional management to its Indian operations could be seen as a strategic alignment to battle arch rival Ola which recently acquired TaxiForSure.