Arriving at an airport in India, particularly at an odd hour, can be a troublesome experience , if you have no one waiting to receive you. Here’s good news for the traveller in India. The Hindu reports that radio taxis will zoom into many new cities in India in a big way.
Radio cab services are set to witness a boom in their business. The number of such taxis is expected to swell from the present 2,000 to 174,000, taking the business to Rs 7,210 crore per year by 2010. A study by Dare, a magazine for entrepreneurs from the Cybermedia group, found that radio taxis will become common in 5 major cities and 12 smaller ones in the country by 2010.
At present, radio taxis exist in around 10 cities, most of them in Delhi. By 2010, top 5 cities in India will each have 20,000 cabs and the 12 smaller cities will each have 6000 radio cabs, according to the study. This translates into deployment of 1,72,000 radio cabs across the country.
Megacab which operates in Delhi and Chandigarh, will start services in Mumbai soon. It plans to operate in Goa, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Jaipur and Kolkata.
Forsche, an exclusive cab service for women in Mumbai, has only women chauffeurs. Launched in March 2007, Forsche started with one cab and now has 18 women drivers. Revati Roy, the owner of Forsche, says that such an exclusive service has gained the confidence of women travelling alone, especially during night. In a month’s time, Forsche’s services will be available in Delhi and Bangalore.
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