Uber India chief Pradeep Parameswaran to lead Asia-Pacific operations

Car-hailing major Uber India on Thursday announced that the president of its India and South Asia operations, Pradeep Parameswaran, will have an expanded role as regional general manager for the Asia-Pacific. 

Parameswaran will take charge of the new job on June 19. He will oversee Uber’s rides business in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand. 

In some countries like Australia he will be locking horns with his desi rival Ola, which, too, has SoftBank as its common investor  Uber is looking at shifting its Asia-Pacific headquarters from Singapore after it sold its business in Southeast Asia to Singapore-based Grab, exiting in eight countries, which, apart from Singapore, included Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

Talks are on to shift base to Hong Kong but a final decision has not been taken.

The company’s business in India virtually came to a standstill in the initial stages of the lockdown and it was forced to sack over 25 per cent of its 2,200 employees. 

“After capably leading our India and South Asia business since 2018, I know that he will continue to inspire Uber’s next phase of growth across this key region,” said Andrew Macdonald, Uber’s senior vice-president, mobility and business operations.

Parameswaran joined Uber in January 2017, first leading central operations for India and South Asia before becoming the head of the rides business in India and South Asia, in June 2018.  He’s been instrumental in diversifying Uber’s portfolio, launching innovative Earner’s initiatives such as Uber Care, and driving strong growth.

Following the new appointment, Parameswaran said, “There is huge potential to serve more Uber customers and continue innovating. We will expand our Auto and Moto categories across many more Indian cities to create additional employment opportunities.”