Chinese bicycle sharing Juggernaut Mobike is all set to make foray into the Indian market in matter of few weeks. However, instead of choosing the usual favorite cities like Mumbai, Delhi or Bengaluru, the company has decided to launch its services in Pune city –one of the bustling cities in western states of Maharashtra.
This is the first major expansion undertaken by Mobike ever since it was acquired by Meituan-Dianping in April this year. The development also marks Chinese companies growing presence in the Indian market, which is one of the fastest growing economies in the world.
Following the debut in Pune, the Chinese bike-sharing major plans to expand swiftly across 10-12 Indian cities, according to The Economic Times. However, this plan for fast expansion may receive some resistance from Indian commuters as now they have become too used to travelling through modern means like cars, bikes and buses.
But Mobike’s Indian head Vibhor Jain thinks otherwise. Speaking to Economic Times, he said that the company’s product is so great and offers such great aspirational value that Indian commuters won’t mind changing their traveling habits.
Meanwhile, speculations are already rife that Ofo, another bicycle sharing giant from Mainland China, may also think of trying out its luck in the Indian market. If the Alibaba backed startup does come to India then it may help in giving a big push to India’s nascent bicycle sharing market.
However, most industry experts claimed that resilient bicycle sharing market will not pose any major threat to companies like Uber and Ola. It may change the nature of India’s commuting landscape to a certain extent but not a major extent, experts claimed.
This claim is validated partly by the fact that Didi Chuxing, China’s largest cab hailing company, has so far not felt any heat from Mobike & Ofo’s growth.