Global consulting firm Deloitte on Monday said it would invest $100 million in the Indian market to expand its services in the country.

The firm also plans to increase its headcount by an additional 20 per cent to take its total number of employees to over 18,000 by 2012. With this move, Deloitte India operations have already exceeded the projected headcount for fiscal year 2011, the company stated.

Deloitte recently announced its plans to hire more than 250,000 people globally during the next five years. The employee strength of the organisation in India is 15,000.

"India is an extremely important market for the Deloitte organisation," said Jim Quigley, global CEO of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd.

"As the global attention shifts towards India and its opportunities in the new economic environment emerge in India, Deloitte with its focus on hiring, developing and deploying the best talent in the region, will help clients capitalise on these new market realities," he added.

According to the firm, its continued focus on processes, global experience and technological offerings will help crytallise the growth opportunities that are emerging.

The Indian economy continues to shift towards a higher growth trajectory and is poised to play a greater role at the global level.

According to the organisation, the continued vibrancy of the Indian economic environment, along with the renewed focus on sustainability is creating more investment opportunities and paving the way for the global integration of the Indian economy.

"As the Indian economy charts on the growth trajectory, the expansion of the Deloitte member firms in India demonstrates our commitment to providing quality services to our clients in an evolving economic scenario," said Roopen Roy , consulting leader Deloitte in India.