The Uber threat to Swiggy, Zomato

The ride-hailing company will soon launch UberEATS, which has been testing food and grocery deliveries since 2014, in India.

Alnoor Peermohamed reports.

San Francisco-based ride hailing company Uber will soon launch its food-ordering and delivery service UberEATS in India, going up against established players such as Swiggy, FoodPanda and Zomato in the country.

In a blog post, the company said it would soon launch its UberEATS standalone app in India, without committing on a specific timeline.

Uber has been experimenting with hyperlocal food and grocery deliveries since 2014, utilising its large driver network to fulfill deliveries. In India, it is expected that the company will onboard freelance delivery personnel the likes of whom power Swiggy, FoodPanda and other hyperlocal delivery services.

"I am incredibly excited about bringing UberEATS to India. This is a significant investment, it spans multiple cities and regions, and it has the potential to change the food industry -- with the push of a button -- in one of the most vibrant food cultures in the world," said Allen Penn, Head of UberEATS, Asia Pacific, in a statement.

• How Indian start-ups are taking on global rivals
• Will food tech create the next Flipkart?

The food-tech sector in India has emerged from a state of turmoil, with several companies in the space shutting shop over the span of 18 months. High costs of customer acquisition along with heavy cash burns led the sector to see a funding drought. While large players such as Swiggy, Zomato and FoodPanda survived, many a questions were raised about their business models too.

With the entry of Uber, the most well-funded start-up in the history of the world, into India's foodtech space, the balance could once again be upset. Uber has shown that it is willing to invest huge amounts of money to win the Indian market in its fight with Ola, the largest cab hailing service in the country.

Uber is diverting funds which would have gone into its now defunct China business as well as a majority of the $3.5 billion it raised from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund into India. Similar to global technology giant Apple, the SF-based cab hailing firm is looking at India as its last large untapped market in the world.

Homegrown rival Ola, which had taken a leaf out of Uber's book to launch its very own grocery and food delivery services, shut them in March last year after failing to attract enough users. The company claimed the services were experiments, started them to look at ways to decrease down time for its driver partners, and improve efficiency and earnings.

• Meet the IIT, IIM grads behind Swiggy
• How Zomato wants to become the top player