India fastest growing market for its food delivery platform Uber Eats globally: Uber Honda firms donate `3 cr for Kerala flood relief

NEW DELHI: Us-based Uber on Thursday said India is the fastest growing market for its food delivery platform Uber Eats and the service is being rapidly expanded to cover more Indian cities.

Uber had launched Uber Eats in India in May last year and today expanded the service to five more Indian cities -Tiruchirappalli, Surat, Nashik, Ludhiana and Mysore -- to now cover 28 cities.

"India continues to be the fastest growing market for Uber Eats in the Asia Pacific region and globally.

"As urbanisation picks up in the country, we look for opportunities to take our service to newer cities and expand our network, especially in tier II cities, which we believe, offer tremendous potential for the food tech industry," Head of Uber Eats India Bhavik Rathod said in a statement.

While the company did not disclose specific numbers, it said the number of orders on its platform has "more than quadrupled" in the last three months and recorded nearly 50 per cent month-on-month growth. Interestingly, Vijayawada and Madurai were the first two cities where Uber Eats was launched before the rides service.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi had recently said the company is "deliberately investing" in products like Uber Eats and "high-potential" markets in the Middle East and India, even though its losses widened year-on-year in the June 2018 quarter.

Globally, the Uber Eats business is growing 200 per cent per year and has a $6 billion run rate.

Uber Eats was started in 2014 as a small delivery pilot in Los Angeles and was later launched as a separate mobile app in Toronto in December 2015.

In India, Uber Eats competes with the likes of Zomato and Swiggy as well as Foodpanda, which is owned by Uber's rival, Ola. NEW DELHI: Honda group companies in India along with their employees on Thursday donated Rs 3 crore for Kerala flood relief efforts.

Cheques amounting to Rs 3 crore were handed over to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund on Thursday, the companies said in a joint statement.

"As a responsible corporate, Honda group in India is committed to contribute in restoration of the devastated infrastructure and helping rebuild lives of the affected people," the companies added.

All Honda group companies in India - Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India, Honda Cars India Ltd, Honda Siel Power Products Ltd, Honda R&D (India) and Honda Motor India have contributed towards the reconstruction and recovery of the region.

On Wednesday, Maruti Suzuki India along with its employees had announced to donate Rs 3.5 crore for relief effort in Kerala.

Already, Bajaj Auto, Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) and TVS Motor have announced contribution towards the relief fund.

Other companies such as Tata Motors, Nissan India and BWM have announced service support to customers in the state.