The heat between the two rival cab aggregators, Uber and Ola, has been rising ever since both the companies started operations in India. Now that Uber has already announced its investment in Haryana, how can Ola stay behind?
India’s largest cab aggregator, Ola Cabs, has announced its investment of Rs. 350 Crore in Haryana, almost thrice that of Uber, in the next five years. The company has operations in 5 cities in Haryana – Gurgaon, Panchkula, Ambala, Faridabad and Kurukshetra.
Ola has also signed a memorandum of understanding(MoU) with the Haryana Government to create 10,000 micropreneurs in the state and provide employment to drivers. While this is not all, Ola also wants to introduce its other services like Ola Shuttle, Ola Auto and Ola Share in Haryana.
Haryana is the only other state, apart from Goa, that recognizes bikes as taxis, owing to which Ola Bike was introduced in Haryana early this year. Considering there is an opportunity to grow the bike taxi scene in the state, Ola is looking to expand its Bike service in other major cities of Haryana as well.
How can Ola take advantage of Government relations over Uber?
The Government does not differentiate between an Indian-born startup and one from abroad. However, Ola’s relations with the Government can strengthen by giving back to the state by generating employment and opportunities in the state.
“We will also improve access to mobility in cities across the state by bringing on-board innovative transportation use like Ola Auto, Ola Share, Ola Shuttle, Ola Bike and many more to complement the existing urban transportation system in Haryana,” Pranay Jivrajka, COO – Ola, said.
Haryana’s infrastructure, like other states, is concentrated in largest cities in the state, where Ola operates in. By connecting these cities through an inter-city Ola ride will vastly improve the movement from one end to the other. Gurgaon’s cabs are usually NCR only cabs, which limits the movement to far-off places.
Will this new development summon more technology companies to invest in Haryana? Perhaps truck-aggregation to increase the movement of goods between Haryana’s cities and set up technology clusters around Panchkula and Gurgaon.
Source: Livemint