Baidu's $600 million investment brings some cheer for beleaguered taxi app Uber

Search engine Baidu is all set to become the latest Chinese Internet firm to take an interest in the flourishing market for transportation apps. According to  Bloomberg , they could invest as much as $600 million in Uber, though the exact figure has not been confirmed. Uber will in turn receive cash and non-cash assets which also include Baidu’s online resources.The taxi-hailing apps alliance with Baidu mirrors partnerships between dominant Chinese taxi-hailing apps Kuaidi Dache and Didi Dache, which have been backed by Baidu rivals Alibaba and Tencent Holdings respectively. Uber recently raised funding to the tune of $40 billion, propelling it into the ranks of the world’s most richly valued private companies. Uber received criticism when a rape case was reported against the popular taxi app in India. A 7-year old woman in Delhi was allegedly raped inside a cab  which she had booked using the service. Another report suggests that, Uber-like services have huge potential in India as said by Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka. The comments, made by Sikka during a TV interview, come at a time when Uber and other such operators are facing a government crackdown and public outrage after rape of a young woman, allegedly by the driver of an Uber cab. With inputs from Reuters