"Every few weekends, 21-year-old student Lavanya Jain opens the BlaBlaCar app to find a lift from Noida on the outskirts of New Delhi to his home in Kandhla, a small town in northern India's Uttar Pradesh state. The 120-kilometer journey costs him about ₹500, the equivalent of about $6. That's a fraction of the ₹1,500-₹2,000, or $17-$23, he would pay for a private cab."
"Jain is one of millions of Indians turning to long-distance carpooling as a cheaper, more social way to travel between cities. That surge has made India the company's largest market worldwide, with an estimated 20 million passengers this year - up almost 50% from a year earlier. Based on that forecast, BlaBlaCar's India market would surpass the 18 million passengers projected in Brazil and its home market of France."
A student regularly uses BlaBlaCar to travel 120 kilometers for about ₹500, significantly cheaper than private cabs. Millions of Indians are adopting long-distance carpooling for cost savings, convenience, and social interaction. India is forecast to host about 20 million BlaBlaCar passengers this year, reflecting nearly 50% year-on-year growth and overtaking projected ridership in Brazil and France. The company returned to growth after closing its India office in 2017, expanding largely without marketing or a local team. Growth has been driven by word of mouth, wider mobile internet access, rising digital payments and car ownership, 700+ million smartphone users, UPI transfers, and record car sales in 2024.
Read at TechCrunch
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