London: Ebookers, a leading Internet service provider owned by non-resident Indian Dinesh Dhamija, is bidding to cash in on the call centre boom in India by offering back office and customer care services to blue-chip companies, adding a fresh strand to its core Internet travel agency.

Dhamija, Ebookers' Indian-born chief executive, said the group quadrupled its rented office space in New Delhi last month in anticipation of winning at least two big deals this year.

According to sources the company is in talks with several businesses, including American Airlines, about providing services such as customer care, finance and administration, using India's cheap but educated workforce.

Ebookers moved some of its own operations to India to cut down costs, after the terrorist attack in the United States on September 11 sent the travel industry reeling.

"If we hadn't gone there ourselves we would have gone bust," Dhamija said. "The operations work at around 30 per cent of the cost of our operations in Europe." The group now employs 520 staff - almost a third of its workforce - in New Delhi, in 22,000 sq ft of office space.

Dhamija said he leased a further 62,000 sq ft last month. Ebookers is keen to win North American as well as European customers so that desks can be used in the working hours of both continents.

PTI