Uber expanded the amount of capital it hopes to raise in its current funding round from $1 billion to $2.8 billion due to a high demand for its shares and “the confidence investors have in Uber’s growth,” the Wall Street Journal has reported.

A spokesperson has said that investors will buy shares at a valuation of $41 billion, the same price paid in December 2014.

Uber has apparently told investors it forecasts net revenue to be over $2 billion this year, five times what it made last year, when the figure was around $400 million.

Chinese web giant Baidu acquired a minority stake in Uber in December, giving the US firm a boost as it looks to expand in China, and the company signed a deal with America Movil to bring the service to the operator group’s customers in Mexico.

Meanwhile, rival app maker Lyft is reportedly in talks to raise $250 million at a valuation of $2 billion, having raised $250 million last April at a valuation of $700 million.

Uber earlier attracted $2.8 billion in equity funding, the most by a private company backed by venture capital, according to Dow Jones VentureSource. It also secured $1.6 billion in convertible debt from clients at Goldman Sachs.

However,  not all Uber news is good. The app was banned in New Delhi in December, following rape allegations against one of its drivers.

Last month, the company applied for a radio taxi licence and is waiting on approval from the city’s transport department who said that the company has not responded to requests for the submission of missing information in its application and now has until 25 February to do so.

If it fails, “it will be presumed that the company has nothing to say in this regard and an ex-parte decision/action would be taken in the matter,” the department has said.

A spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal that Uber is “evaluating the perceived deficiencies in the time period provided to us by the government.”

Earlier this month, Uber added two features to its app in India – the ability to instantly share journey details and a panic ‘SOS’ button – to address concerns over passenger safety.

The company has also seen rape allegations against drivers in Chicago and Boston and is trying to overturn bans in France, Spain and South Korea for alleged violations such as using unlicensed drivers.