To rule the world, Uber must first conquer India

Bangalore

NANDINI Balasubramanya's office on the southern edge of India's technology capital does not look as if it would play a key role in the world's most valuable startup's plans for global conquest. On many days, the tiny space has no electricity. So Ms Balasubramanya keeps the door open, with the noise and dust of Bangalore's traffic-choked streets streaming in.

On one wall, next to a table where she greets a stream of neighbourhood job seekers, is a long list of the documents she asks of each applicant - driver's licence, proof of insurance, vehicle registration permit, proof of bank account, and half a dozen other chits to pass through India's bureaucracy. There is also a framed photograph of a smiling Travis Kalanick, chief executive of the US ride-hailing company, Uber.