Chennai, Sep 2 - Former Tamil Nadu chief minister and the current Leader of the Opposition J. Jayalalithaa has demanded regularisation of 1,600 casual workers at Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Ltd (TNPL), the country's second largest paper maker.

In a statement issued here Wednesday, Jayalalithaa cited the company's Rs.106-crore net profit last fiscal and said the absorption of casual workers will result in earnings rising despite some dip initially.

'The absorbed workers would put in more efforts so that the company's revenue and profits would far exceed the initial loss,' she said.

According to her, since the Rs.1,066-crore TNPL is celebrating silver jubilee this year, and taking the expected rise in profits into consideration, the company ought to absorb casual workers.

The Tamil Nadu government has a 35.32 percent stake in TNPL, located at Karur around 350 km from here.