Area under sugarcane across the country 4.74 mln ha, higher than 3.88 mln ha LY. The area under sugarcane in Maharashtra, up 45% on year at 0.91 million ha. Production in the state had fallen to an eight-year low of 4.2 mln tn this season due to droughts in the previous two years. In Uttar Pradesh, acreage down 3.1% on year at 2.1 mln ha. In Uttarakhand, farmers have sown sugarcane over 84,000 ha, up 15.1% on year, while the acreage in Madhya Pradesh fell 23.2% on year to 99,000 ha.