TN govt signs 13 agreements with companies: Karunanidhi

Chennai, Mar 21 (UNI) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today said his government had signed as many as 13 agreements with different companies in the state for Rs 17,563 crore.

Replying to AIADMK General Secretary J Jayalalitha's comments on the state Budget, Mr Karunanidhi said the agreements would generate 1,41,640 direct and indirect jobs .

The power generation projects would not yield electricity immediately, he added, answering another question.

Mr Karunanidhi alleged that had the power generation projects been implemented during the previous AIADMK government's tenure, the state would not have suffered power shortage now.

Replying to a question raised by the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam(DMDK) President Vijaykanth on school dropouts, the Chief Minister said the overall dropouts during 2007 had been reduced to 1.4 per cent, compared to 1.9 per cent during 2006.

Mr Karunanidhi pointed out that the dropouts from the first standard to fifth standard had come down to 1.4 per cent, compared to 3.9 per cent in 2005.

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