Recent floods hit cane crop in Karnataka

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NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The sugarcane crop in Karnataka, India's third-biggest sugar producing state, has been partly damaged due to recent floods, the Business Standard newspaper said on Tuesday.

Floods in the southern state damaged cane crop on 66,022 hectares of farmland and the loss was likely to be around 5 billion rupees ($106 million), the paper said, quoting a survey by the state government.

Sugar output in India, the world's top consumer and second-biggest producer behind Brazil, dropped more than 40 percent to about 15 million tonnes in 2008/09 (October-September) due to a shortage of cane, forcing the country to allow tax-free imports.

Sugar prices in the country have surged more than 73 percent to 3,185 rupees per 100 kg in 2009.

(Reporting by Mayank Bhardwaj)