Taxi apps have formed a global alliance against Uber. Didi Kuaidi in China, Ola in India, Lyft in the US , and Grab Taxi in East Asia are developing a common application to roll out in March next year, in order to compete with Uber. In response, Uber is planning to raise $2.1 billion for investment in India and China. The photo is a street of New Delhi, India./ Photographed by Ha Man-joo

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By Ha Man-joo, India correspondent, AsiaToday - The battle between Uber and its global ride-sharing app rivals is getting cutthroat.

On December 6, foreign media outlets and sources said that Didi Kuadi in China, Ola in India, Lyft in the US, and Grab Taxi in East Asia will develop an application to be used jointly by March next year, in order to compete with Uber. The companies will link their systems creating a common application that customers can access anywhere in the world.

In response, app-based taxi aggregator Uber is planning to raise $2.1 billion in a fundraising round led by Tiger Global, Lee Fixel, Rowe Price and other investors, primarily for investments in India and China. What's catching attention is that Tiger Global has previously invested in other ride-sharing companies including Ola and Grab Taxi.

The anti-Uber alliance is led by Japan's Softbank and China's Alibaba. Softbank is the largest shareholder of Alibaba. The two companies said that they plan to invest an additional $7.29 billion.

The anti-Uber alliance will now increase its coverage to nearly half of the world's population. Uber is currently operating in 67 countries around the world.

The competition between Uber and anti-Uber alliance over business items is getting fierce as well. Uber is seeking to enter new lines of business. It has tested parcel and food delivery, and has invested in new technologies such as driverless car technology. The alliance is also seeking to expand into food delivery and other new services.

Didi Kuadi and Ola are still in top place in China and India, respectively. In the competition between San Francisco-based companies, Uber is far ahead of Lyft.