Radio Taxi services provider Meru targets expansion in 45 new cities of India to become USD1 billion firm by 2022.

India: Meru, the Mumbai based radio taxi services provider is aiming to be a USD1 billion firm in the next six years. Meru has returned to profit in December 2015 quarter after a massive gap of almost six quarters, and now company is targeting to have a network of one lakh radio taxis by 2022 with plan to purchase around 10,000 cars during this period. The expansion plan is also focused on increasing Meru presence in Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities such as Bareilly, Patna, Bhopal, etc.

According to the Meru Group CEO Siddhartha Pahwa, “Meru will continue to increase its own fleet size by adding around 1,500- 2,000 taxis every year. Meru's radio taxi services in Metro cities like, Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru is already witnessing considerable profits. In the rest 17 Indian cities, company will continue to invest in the operations to make them profitable in coming years.

Further, in 2015, Meru has witnessed a y-o-y growth rate of around 40%. By the end of 2015, Meru offered radio taxi services in 23 cities of India, and has generated a revenue of around USD110 million with a consumer base of around 10 million. Company has a fleet size of around 20,000 taxis, of which it owns around 30% and rest of the fleet is on aggregator business model.

According to a recently published TechSci Research report, “India Radio Taxi Services Market Forecast and Opportunities, 2020”, India radio taxi services market has been witnessing robust growth since last few years. Increasing penetration of radio taxis in Tier-I and Tier-II cities is adding fuel to this growth. Meru’s strategic expansion plan in Tier-I and Tier-II cities would significantly support company’s growth in India Radio Taxi market.