Gandhinagar, June 27 (IANS) Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that Bharat Taxi plans to expand its cooperative mobility platform to more than 500 cities and towns across India within the next two years, describing the rollout as the next phase of the organisation's national expansion. Speaking at the launch of Bharat Taxi in Gujarat, HM Shah said the platform had already begun operating on a trial basis in several locations and had now formally commenced services across the state's major cities. "Today it has been formally launched in Gujarat. From today, Bharat Taxi has officially commenced operations in all the major cities of Gujarat in all three categories, two-wheelers, auto-rickshaws and four-wheelers," he said.

HM Shah said the organisation had already enrolled around seven lakh "Sarathis", or driver-members, who are shareholders in the cooperative. Outlining its expansion roadmap, he said Bharat Taxi would rapidly extend operations across the country over the coming months. "Very soon...I want to say from this stage today, within one and a half to two years, we will reach more than 500 cities, and there will hardly be any place left. We will reach everywhere," he emphasised.The Home Minister named several cities where the cooperative platform is expected to begin operations shortly.

"We will reach Nagpur, Pune, Mumbai, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Jaipur and Kolkata. Before July 31, Bharat Taxi will have reached all seven of these locations," he said. He said the cooperative model would continue to underpin the expansion, with drivers becoming members and shareholders rather than remaining independent contractors. "I am very happy that today you have become a part of the family of seven lakh Sarathis and a part of Bharat Taxi," he said.

HM Shah linked the initiative to the wider cooperative movement promoted by the Ministry of Cooperation."Our beloved leader and the Prime Minister of the country, Narendra Modi, gave us the mantra of 'Prosperity through Cooperation'. To realise that mantra in the fields of mobility and transportation, the cooperative movement is today expanding its reach," he noted. Congratulating the newly enrolled members from Gujarat, HM Shah said, "By joining this, you have paved the way for your prosperity, your dignity and your security," expressing confidence that Bharat Taxi would emerge as a major cooperative organisation in India's transport and mobility sector.

--IANS