



Uber eyes $13 billion intercity travel market with AbhiBus tie-up
₹1.19 trillion)market, which is still less than 5% organised,” he said.He also added that Uber’s existing intercity cabs business is growing about 50% year-on-year and operating across around 3,000 routes.Only 19% of India’s intercity bus market was booked online in fiscal 2023, underscoring how under-penetrated the category still is despite the scale of demand, according to a 2023 study by travel advisory firm VIDEC Consultants.The same report estimated the overall intercity bus market at ₹539 billion ($6.7 billion) in fiscal 2023 and projected it to grow to ₹688 billion ($8.6 billion) by fiscal 2026.Within the online segment, the report said MakeMyTrip Group-owned redBus controlled about 75% of the OTA intercity bus market in fiscal 2023, with ixigo-owned AbhiBus trailing behind.When asked why Uber was not using its own capital to build a standalone bus-ticketing business, Singh said the category was still under-penetrated enough for multiple models to coexist.“The best part of the fact that, as you laid out, it’s still under-penetrated means there is such a long journey, and we believe different business models will coexist,” he added.Uber wants to retain and acquire users who prefer buses as an affordable intercity option to Uber's premium cab option.
This partnered launch is more to retain those users.The online intercity bus market in India is split between aggregators such as redBus, AbhiBus and ixigo, which list inventory from third-party bus operators, and newer full-stack or asset-led players such as IntrCity SmartBus, FreshBus and FlixBus, which have sought greater control over service quality through franchise arrangements, contracted fleets or their own on-ground operations.Against that backdrop, Singh said
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