RPT-Sugar output may fall in key northern Indian state

(Repeats story from Wednesday)

LUCKNOW, India, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Sugar output in India's second-biggest producing state is likely to fall below estimates as the weakest monsoon in more than three decades has hit sucrose content in cane, government officials said on Wednesday.

Lower production from Uttar Pradesh will exacerbate a shortage of sugar in India, which became a leading importer of the sweetener in the year to September, helping benchmark prices in New York and London soar.

Sugar production in the state is expected to fall below an estimated 4 million tonnes in the 2009/10 season, as sucrose levels have dropped to 8.5 percent versus 9.5 percent in the previous year, the state officials said.

India's sugar season runs from October to September.

Uttar Pradesh produced 4.6 million tonnes of sugar in 2008/09.

Delay in crushing due to a price row between mills and farmers would further hit sucrose level, M.L.Sharma, director of the Uttar Pradesh Cane Research Council, told Reuters.

Cane area in Uttar Pradesh, which normally grows half of India's cane, has reduced to 1.8 million hectares this year, from 2.1 million hectares in 2008/09.

Sugar production would certainly be lower due to the shortage of cane and lower sucrose level, said K.M. Shukla, a representative of the Uttar Pradesh Sugar Mill Association.

Some government officials, including the state cane commissioner, disagree.

"The fields have moisture which helps enhance sucrose level," Sudhir M. Bobde, state cane commissioner, said. ($1 = 46.28 rupee) (Reporting by Alka Pande; Editing by Malini Menon)