Grab’s India plans (feat. Uber)

The Singapore-based company wants to start with an R&D office just like the ones it has in Seattle and Beijing

Arul Kumaravel, vice president of engineering, Grab, will head India operations

Grab will hire 200 employees within the next year

Grab’s presence in India will test the anti-Uber alliance, which also involves Ola

There is bound to be some nervousness within Ola of another talent drain in the offing

Singapore’s on-demand taxi service and Uber’s biggest rival in South East Asia, Grab, has started laying roots in India. It will start with a research and development (R&D) facility in Bengaluru. The company has already hired two employees in India over the last month. Another 198 could be employed within the next year, according to one person closely associated with the company. An official announcement is imminent.

Grab’s India operations may be headed by Arul Kumaravel, vice president of engineering. He, however, will not be relocating to India just yet. Kumaravel joined in 2015 when the previous Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Wei Zhu quit.

AUTHOR

Patanjali Pahwa

Patanjali has spent over seven years in journalism. He last worked at Business Standard as Principal Correspondent, where he wrote on startups, e-commerce companies and venture capital. He has worked at an array of institutions, which include Forbes India, Caravan and Outlook Business. He is a Mumbaikar, born and brought up. Patanjali did his BSc in IT from Mumbai University and then got his journalism degree from IIJNM in Bangalore. He is enamoured by Ernest Hemingway and Tom Waits and may try to sneak in references to them in his stories.

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