February 25 2016, 11.15 AM IST || Pocket News Alert
New Delhi: Ola, India’s most popular mobile app for transportation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Uttar Pradesh in the presence of the Honourable Chief Minister Shri Akhilesh Yadav. As per the MoU, Ola will work with the state Government towards skill development of youth in Uttar Pradesh and provide entrepreneurship opportunities for 50,000 men and women across over the next five years.
Ola will also work with the state government to introduce innovative and customised mobility solutions like Ola Auto, Ola Share and Ola Shuttle across the state in the coming months. By bringing more transportation solutions onto its app using technology, Ola is looking to serve citizens across Uttar Pradesh, giving them instant access to reliable and convenient mobility. Uttar Pradesh is slated to have over 10 Smart Cities under the aegis of the Smart Cities project. Early adoption of technology enabled mobility solutions championed by Ola will go a long way in enabling seamless urban transportation in the state.
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Shri Akhilesh Yadav, on signing the MoU, said, “The state of Uttar Pradesh is growing as an economic centre for the country faster than ever before. The compounded annual growth rate of U.P. in the last three years has been higher than the national growth rate. Technology and skilling are two major areas we would like to focus on to further accelerate the impact on the state’s economy. Ola’s commitment to building mobility for citizens by using cutting edge mobile technology and by enabling entrepreneurship and skilling will be invaluable. We are extremely delighted to bring them onboard as part of this MoU to skill and create opportunities for over 50,000 youth in the state of Uttar Pradesh.”
Pranay Jivrajka, Chief Operating Officer at Ola said, “We are proud to partner with the Uttar Pradesh Government. We aim to create more than 50,000 employment and entrepreneurial opportunities in the state by investing in skill development of youth. We are bullish about Uttar Pradesh and will work with the state towards further improving access to mobility in its cities by bringing on-board innovative transportation use cases like Ola Auto, Ola Share, Ola Shuttle and more to complement the existing transportation infrastructure in Uttar Pradesh.”
Ola came to Uttar Pradesh in early 2014 and has redefined personal transportation in the state by being the first ever on-demand cab booking app. Today, Ola has become a key component of the local transportation space with presence across 9 major cities in the state that include Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra, Meerut, Aligarh, Allahabad, Saharanpur, Varanasi and Mathura. Currently over 2100 vehicles are registered on the Ola platform in the state and it is expected to go upto 20,000 in the next 5 years.
The most populous state in India, Uttar Pradesh has been banking on technology and skill development to address the issues of unemployment, especially amongst the youth. It is through focused training and skilling initiatives with the involvement of the Government and private enterprises like Ola, that men and women in the state can realise their entrepreneurial dreams. Once trained, these individuals stand to benefit from Ola’s technology platform. Driver partners working with Ola across India have seen their incomes grow by as much as 40%. In fact, more than 70% of the drivers associated with Ola are entrepreneurs themselves.
