Perturbed over the continuing loss of jobs in Britain, a House of Commons Committee plans to launch a wide-ranging inquiry into alleged loss of call centre and IT jobs from the United Kingdom to countries like India.

"We will be raising the issue of the removal of UK jobs to call centres to places like India," Martin O'Neill, chairman of the commons trade and industry select committee, said on Monday.

O'Neill said he planned to quiz telecom giant BT over the loss of call centre jobs at a hearing later this year and that would be part of a wider inquiry into the failure of the IT revolution to deliver the expected jobs miracle, a report in the Independent daily said.

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By the end of this year, HSBC plans to employ 8,000 people in India, China and Malaysia, BT is planning to create 2,200 new call centre posts in India, and Aviva, the insurance company, plans a 1,000-person call centre and claims-processing unit in India.

The move is expected to bring cheers to trade unions that have launched protests against decisions by some of Britain's best-known companies to move jobs abroad.

The unions claim British workers lose their jobs by thousands while countries such as India get a reputation as nation of wage slaves.

After BT announced its plans the Communication Workers Union paraded a giant inflatable pink elephant outside its headquarters in protests at the 'jobs stampede.'

Ed Sweeney, general secretary of Unifi, which represents 160,000 workers, said there was strong support from MPs for an inquiry into the loss of jobs overseas.

"Unifi has taken a delegation to the House of Commons to brief MPs on the emerging threat to jobs and received a strongly sympathetic reception," he said.

Research last month by the analysts Key Note predicted 100,000 of the existing 600,000 call centre jobs would disappear between now and the end of 2008 and research by the consultants Deloitte and Touche claimed India would be the main beneficiary of an expected outsourcing of 2 million, mainly administrative and technology-related jobs by 2008.

O'Neill said his committee would investigate wider concerns over the failure of the late 1990s boom in IT to create as many jobs as had been touted.

"Later in the year we will assess the impact of the IT revolution and see whether the IT promise has been delivered," he said.

"I want to talk to the relevant parties and to raise with the government why after the bubble burst that some of the expectations it raised have not been realised."

But advocates of outsourcing contend it creates wealth for both countries involved.

At a recent conference in London, Satyabrata Pal, India's Deputy High Commissioner, said British companies saved money while Indian companies invested in the UK.