German retailer Metro Cash & Carry is reportedly planning to invest close to INR25bn ($393.2m) to expand its business in India.

The proposed investment will see around 50 distribution centers over a period of next five years.

The company intends to open at least seven facilities every year by 2020.

The retailer will open its 18th facility in Binnypet, Bangalore with an investment of around INR700m ($11.01m) where it had opened its first distribution centre in 2003.

Metro Cash & Carry India managing director Rajeev Bakshi was quoted by Business Standard as saying: "This is our second centre in 2015 and the fourth in Bengaluru. The first centre this year was opened at Hyderabad last week.

"We will open two more in the next few days."

Metro’s existing wholesale centres include three each in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, two in Mumbai, and one each in Delhi, Kolkata, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Zirakpur, Amritsar, Vijayawada, Indore and Jaipur.

"The Indian consumer is changing very fast and is now demanding new things. We were ahead of our time in India and so could not expand rapidly in the first eight years. In the past four years, we have opened 12 outlets."