Foreign lender, HSBC is going to set up seven business banking centers so as to focus on the small and medium enterprises (SME) segment of the country.

"Last week we opened two branches in Hyderabad and Mumbai with a headcount of 50 and 200, respectively," Dheeraj Dikshit, head (SME business) of HSBC India, said.

The bank has recently launched its third SME branch in Pune.

Four more branches would be set up in cities of Kolkata, Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai by October end, said Dikshit. "We have also planned a few more, including Ahmedabad to cover the entire country next year to tap the SMEs," he added.

"These branches will serve as a signal window for the business requirement of the SMEs in the country with an annual turnover of Rs 10 lakh and upto Rs 50 crore," Dikshit said.

"SMEs are growing and getting sophisticated and contributing 40 per cent of the exports in the country and many of them setting business shops overseas," Dikshit said.