This study investigated the production of L-lactic acid (LA) from agro-industrial waste by free and polyurethane immobilized Rhizopus oryzae MTCC 8784 using the innate hydrolytic potential of the fungus. Fungal biomass and lactic acid production obtained from the agrowastes (from all 3 pre-treatments) were compared to the yield parameters obtained with starch. Sugar bagasse on acid hydrolysis gave the highest lactic acid yield of 79.2 g/L, with highest volumetric productivity of 1.1 g/L/h. Cultivation of polyurethane (PU) sponge immobilized R. oryzae MTCC 8784 on starch utilization at 30°C, 160 rpm of agitation rate and pH of 6.0 for 72 h, showed 1.15 fold increase in LA concentration in comparison to free cells. Lactic acid was successfully obtained from amylolytically saccharified starch by 4 repeated batch cultures with stable efficiency. All the agrowaste substrates tested supported higher lactic acid yield as compared to free cells using PU immobilized R.oryzae MTCC 8784 at 30°C, 160 rpm of agitation and pH of 6.0 for 72 h with sugar bagasse showing a maximum yield of 88.2g/L (1.22 fold higher than with free cells). HPLC chromatogram revealed lactic acid peak with a retention time of 2.61 min. To our knowledge, this is the first report on lactic acid production by innate hydrolysis of agrowastes under immobilized condition by a fungus. The isolate MTCC 8784 can be a good candidate for cost-effective and ecofriendly industrial production of lactic acid from agro-industry waste.