There’s probably no better way to gauge a country’s importance in global commerce than the visits by global CEOs. And on that metric, India’s faring pretty well.
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick is now in Mumbai on a business trip. This year has seen several high-profile CEOs make a beeline for India, including Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
This is Kalanick’s second visit to India this year. He’s last visited in February, when he’d charmingly taken a local bus, and had also given a talk to star-struck students at IIT Bombay.
This time, Kalanick seems to be mixing business with some pleasure. He’s attended an Uber all-hands at Mumbai, and also took time out to meet Sachin Tendulkar. Global CEOs seem to be particularly interested in cricket and its stars – Apple CEO Tim Cook had taken time out to watch an IPL match during his visit.
Hello Bombay! Good to be back 🙂
— travis kalanick (@travisk) December 12, 2016
UberMumbai all-hands meeting… business review and tk q&a 🙂 pic.twitter.com/ceFeEFxilI
— travis kalanick (@travisk) December 12, 2016
Learnt about a religion called cricket from the god himself! 🙂 Thanks for having me over @sachin_rt pic.twitter.com/7mCRF8EmFI
— travis kalanick (@travisk) December 12, 2016
On 15th December, Kalanick will be in New Delhi in a conversation with NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant.
Uber’s increased India interest is unsurprising given how it might now be its most important international market. Uber had thrown in the towel in China earlier this year after a long protracted battle with Didi, and is now focussing its energies in India. In India, it is currently trailing Ola in terms of market share, but is managing to give the market leader a tough time – Uber’s stiff competition has prevented Ola from becoming the dominant player, and there is speculation that Ola will be unable to raise money at the $5 billion valuation it had commanded earlier this year.