Technology giant IBM on Wednesday said it plans to set up offices in 40 cities across India by 2013. It announced the opening of three regional offices in Dehradun, Guwahati and Raipur, taking the total number of branch offices to 18 across India.

"IBM is currently focused on increasing its presence in smaller, rapidly developing Indian cities as part of its plan to establish a presence in 40 Indian cities by 2013," IBM said in a statement. By extending its network of regional branches, IBM is strengthening its ability to deliver more advanced technologies and services to its clients, it added.

The company, however, did not comment on the head-count at these centres. It has also opened offices in Ahmedabad, Indore and Coimbatore over the past one year. IBM is experiencing particular demand for information management, security, cloud computing and business analytics solutions as businesses and government organisations turn to IT to reduce costs and gain competitive advantage, it said.

IBM has a number of clients in Dehradun, Guwahati and Raipur where it is focused on banking, education, government, energy, manufacturing, industry and IT sectors. Some of IBM's clients in these regions include Vandana Global and Jindal Steel in Raipur and Kurmanchal Bank and Uttarakhand Power Corporation in Dehradun.

The company is also focusing on increasing partnership with the educational institutes to support the growth of Open Source technologies. IBM is partnering with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Guwahati to foster innovation and promote local technology talent.