India's Ola partners with car maker Mahindra in its race against Uber

Uber’s biggest rival in India, Ola may have cracked a way to lure more drivers to join its cab-hailing platform.

Ola announced today that it has entered into a strategic alliance with Mahindra, one of India’s largest automakers, to make it easier and more affordable for its drivers to buy a car. As part of the partnership, Ola’s driver partners will be offered Mahindra-Ola package, which would let them purchase Mahindra cars at special prices, avail discounted loans at zero down payment, insurance premiums at subsidized cost, and comprehensive maintenance packages. The two companies believe the deal would generate revenues to the tune of $400 million over the next two years via vehicle sales and financing. The announcement comes as competition in India's cab aggregation market heats up, which is valued at $12 billion. Both Ola and Uber are trying to get more drivers to sign up for their platforms and become exclusive partners. "To me, this is an important strategic alliance for the Mahindra Group, one that I believe will change the contours of our industry, while giving us the first mover advantage in the fast growing Sharing Economy of India," said Anand Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra Group. "As part of the strategic alliance between the two companies, we have created a unique solution to help tens of thousands of aspiring driver-entrepreneurs realize their dreams," Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder and CEO of Ola said. Last year, Ola partnered with Nissan Motor India to buy and lend cars to its drivers. Uber interestingly hasn’t made any similar moves in India just yet though it has a global partnership with Toyota for leasing cars. Lyft, one of Uber’s chief rivals in the U.S. market also has a similar partnership with Volkswagen and General Motors.