Uber has confirmed that it is expanding its operations in India, adding seven new cities to the 11 it already operates in.
Its statement said that this is not only "the largest number of new international cities Uber has ever launched together" but also that India is now "Uber's largest geographical market after US."
It also confirmed that its Indian business is currently growing at 40% every month.
Uber's expansion comes a few days after India's biggest taxi-app business Ola announced that it was starting to sell TaxiForSure rides on its app. Ola bought TaxiForSure in a $200 million cash and shares deal earlier this year.
China is another priority market for Uber. Rumours this week, recycling the contents of "an email leaked to investors", suggest that Uber is claiming to have a 50% share of the Chinese market, or one million trips a day.
The biggest competitor for Uber in China is Didi Kuaidi, a mega-funded business formed this February when the country’s biggest taxi sharing apps Kuaidi Dache and Didi Dache merged.
Didi Kuaidi also feeds the rumour mill, with a lot of noise this week following its own "leaked email to investors" in which it claimed to be handling three million trips a day, ten times what Uber is doing.
Ignoring the math, the numbers give an indication of the scale of the opportunities in China.
But the rest of APAC also offers potential for the taxi/rideshare/private hire app players. Reports suggest that Didi Kuaidi is looking to invest in Grabtaxi which operates in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines.
And to complete the circle, there are some suggestions that Didi Kuaidi is building a team to start a business in the US - Uber's backyard.
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