Uber Technologies Inc. intends to invest $1 billion in India within the next nine months, as the company seeks to increase the number of cities it operates in and suppress local competition.
India, which is Uber's second biggest market after the U.S., was referred to as a "global priority market" by Amit Jain, Uber India's president, according to CNN.
India and China are Uber's priority markets. The company said last month that it would invest more than $1 billion in China this year as it looks to rev up growth in the world's second largest economy.
The company is now valued at $40 billion after Uber raised $2.8 billion in its latest round of funding.
Uber will use the new influx of funds to expand beyond the 18 Indian cities where it now operates by adding 200,000 drivers in the country on its app by 2016. In addition, Uber hopes to develop new products and payment solutions, according to the Wall Street Journal.
"We are extremely bullish on the Indian market and see tremendous potential here," said Jain in a statement Friday.
Uber expects the investment will contribute to even more rapid growth in the country, and reported already seeing 40 percent growth in India every month.
"We expect to hit over 1 million trips per day," added Jain, according to Yahoo! News. An industry source reported that Uber currently records 200,000 trips daily.
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