Sugar output in Tamil Nadu is seen falling more than 45% to 600,000 tonne in 2017-18 (Oct-Sep) from an estimated 1.1 million tonne this year. Last year, mills in the state had produced 1.37 million tonne of sugar. Sugar output next season is seen declining because of successive years of meagre rainfall in the state and a drop-in cane acreage. Tamil Nadu received 62% below-normal rainfall during the key northeast monsoon season in Oct-Dec. Back-to-back years of deficit rainfall and a severe drought this year have also dragged groundwater to abysmally low levels in the state. The state has a capacity to produce around 3 million tonne sugar annually.