BENGALURU: Uber is days away from appointing a chief executive officer for India, top company executives said, as the cab-hailing app redoubles its commitment to its second-biggest market outside the United States The world’s second-most valuable startup after Chinese handset maker Xiaomi is bulking up its leadership team as it gets to grips with regulations in India and plots new services while steadying operations in a country where it has been beset by several troubles.“We have to move faster and hire more,” said Eric Alexander , head of Asian operations at Uber, which currently operates with a 65-person team in India. “An announcement (about the CEO) can be expected as soon as the next two weeks.”Uber, which is valued at over Rs 2.4 lakh crore ($40 billion), has grown swiftly in India since its launch in Bengaluru in 2013 — it is now present in 12 cities.It has, however, been dogged by run-ins with the central bank, tax authorities and state agencies which regulate taxi services. The alleged rape in Delhi of a passenger by a driver on the Uber network in December has also put the spotlight on the safety of such services.One of those in contention for the top India job was Gautam Gupta, who until March was the head of strategic finance for Uber. Since then, Gupta, a former vicepresident at Goldman Sachs , has been made interim chief financial officer of Uber, ruling him out of the reckoning.People familiar with Uber’s hiring plans told ET that the company has also met executives from consulting firm McKinsey and group buying company Groupon , although no names were disclosed. Uber refused to disclose the identities of candidates it has shortlisted and declined to comment about speculation regarding its new CEO.After a temporary suspension of services in Delhi and an application for a radio taxi licence made in January, Uber has resumed services in the national capital, but no longer retains a commission from drivers on its network.“It is increasingly becoming clear that one of the biggest hurdles for Uber's growth (both within US and globally) is the regulatory one,” said Kartik Hosanagar, a professor of internet commerce at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. “It also reflects that India is an important global market for Uber.” Uber typically launches every new city with the help of a “launcher” and then employs just three people --a general manager who is responsible for strategy, a community marketing manager and a head of operations who manages relationships with the taxi drivers signing up.A country-specific leadership team that can help the company navigate regulatory and other issues is now being seen as the way ahead in a complex market like India.“We have to embrace it and work closely with government to change the law,” said Alexander. Sunil Wattal, who teaches management information systems at Temple University in the United States, described Uber’s move to appoint an India head as a “huge step” in the right direction. “Now it can work towards proactively engaging with the government and grab the opportunity to define and shape regulations,” he said.Uber main rival in India is Ola, which is backed by Japan’s Soft-Bank. Ola has an overwhelming majority of the taxi app market but Uber says it is growing rapidly too. “This is the lull before the storm,” said a top executive at Ola.