The formerly state-owned German postal service said the investment would be made through its DHL Supply Chain unit, which was planning to build new logistics hubs in eight Indian cities, including Mumbai and Delhi.

The plan came in the wake of government efforts to improve India's logistics infrastructure, said DHL's Asia-Pacific regional director Paul Graham, and was aimed at tapping the region's rapidly expanding growth potential.

"India, China and other emerging markets are going to play key roles in creating growth for our company in the future," Graham said, while he outlined the investment plan on Tuesday.

DHL, which is Deutsche Post's express delivery and logistics division, already runs operations in 103 locations in India and employs about 5,000 workers. The firm's workforce in India was set to double, DHL said, as the investment would be made over the next three years.

Deutsche Post already opened a new regional hub in Shanghai in July of this year worth $175 million (134 million euros) in an attempt to set up a regional network which includes facilities in Hong Kong, Bangkok and Singapore.

Earlier this year, Deutsche Post Chief Executive Frank Appel announced plans to boost the company's operating profit by 1 billion euros by 2015.

uhe/dr (Reuters, AP, dpa)