Uber expands India footprint with new campuses and data center

On Thursday, Uber detailed plans to significantly expand its physical and engineering presence in India by opening two new campuses. The company plans to establish these new facilities in the cities of Bengaluru and Hyderabad, with both locations scheduled to open by the end of 2027. According to the company’s plans, the new campuses will be built to accommodate around 9,600 people, marking a major scale-up of Uber’s existing operations in these key software and engineering hubs.

To support this expanded footprint, Uber has partnered with Adani Group, an Indian conglomerate, to construct its first data center in India. This facility is expected to go online in the fourth quarter of 2026. The infrastructure project follows a major financial commitment earlier this year, when Uber invested $330 million into its India unit. Uber currently employs around 3,500 people in India, and the company intends to continue hiring technical talent in the region as it scales up its investments in artificial intelligence globally. The company is actively recruiting for technical roles spanning generative AI, machine learning, autonomous vehicle operations, and back-end infrastructure.

The expansion highlights India’s growing importance as an engineering and product development base for global technology companies, driven by its large software talent pool. For Uber, the move aligns with its broader strategy to invest more heavily in AI, automation, and autonomous vehicle technologies. However, the company must navigate a challenging local market characterized by intense price competition, supply shortages, high driver incentive costs, and changing regulations. Uber also faces stiff competition from local ride-hailing competitors. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi noted that Rapido, a local ride-hailing competitor, has overtaken Ola, another local ride-hailing competitor, as Uber’s biggest competitor in India.

Why it matters

Uber is doubling down on India as a critical engineering and infrastructure hub to fuel its global AI and product development, even as it navigates a complex and highly competitive local ride-hailing market.