India's Ola and Uber deny report of merger talks

(Reuters) -Uber Technologies Inc and its Indian rival Ola on Friday denied a media report that the ride-hailing firms were in talks for a merger.

An Economic Times report said that Ola Chief Executive Bhavish Aggarwal had met top Uber executives in San Francisco, United States, citing two sources. (https://bit.ly/3cPbXro)

"That report is inaccurate. We are not, nor have we been, in merger talks with Ola," Uber said in a statement.

Ola's Aggarwal tweeted, "Absolute rubbish. We're very profitable and growing well. If some other companies want to exit their business from India they are welcome to! We will never merge."

The two companies have been slugging it out in an intensely competitive Indian market and have spent billions in incentives and discounts to passengers.

Uber sold its local food delivery business Uber Eats to Zomato Ltd in January 2020, while Ola shut down its grocery delivery business and has of late invested billions of dollars in its electric vehicle venture, Ola Electric Mobility.

(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)