Uber India’s head of business development Mahesh Bhalla quits in just 4 months

BENGALURU: Uber India’s head of business development Mahesh Bhalla has quit in just four months of joining the US-based ride hailing giant. This is the first big exit after the company started building a corporate team in India.

Bhalla had joined Uber in May from QwikCilver, a gifting card solutions company backed by Amazon and Russian telco Sistema. Bhalla had worked at QwikCilver as president for nearly two years, before which he worked for Dell and Samsung. In over a decadelong stint at Dell, Bhalla was the executive director of Dell’s consumer and small & medium business in India, where he was the architect of its consumer strategy.

An Uber spokeswoman did not revert to email queries and calls about Bhalla’s exit. While Bhalla could not be contacted, his LinkedIn profile confirmed that he left the company in August. India is one of the first markets for Uber globally where it appointed a country head, roping in Amit Jain last year.

Since then, the San Francisco-based company, which is valued at over $62 billion, has started building a local team. Otherwise, Uber has been known for its lean global expansion, with teams of just 3-4 executives in each city and using its global technology. In July 2015, Uber committed to invest $1 billion in India, a market the company’s founder Travis Kalanick has said could surpass either the US or China.