The announcement was made after market hours on Monday, 23 August 2010.
Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 18.02 points, or 0.10%, to 18,427.37.
On BSE, 1.24 lakh shares were traded in the counter as against an average daily volume of 6.05 lakh shares in the past one quarter.
The stock hit a high of Rs 353.30 and a low of Rs 345.90 so far during the day. The stock had hit a record high of Rs 368 on 16 August 2010 and a 52-week low of Rs 245 on 24 August 2009.
Cairn India, in which London-based Vedanta Resources recently agreed to pick up a majority stake, has informed the Indian regulator Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) about the discovery, Cairn India said in a statement.
The discovery was made at the Nagayalanka-1z well in the KG-ONN-2003/1 block, which is operated by Cairn with an a 49% participating interest. State-run explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) holds a majority 51% in this block. Shares of ONGC were up 0.29% at Rs Rs 1286.60.
A flow of 75 barrels per day of oil and 0.27 million cubic feet per day of gas was achieved at the well, Cairn said. The well is being evaluated to assess the commercial potential of the discovery, the company said.
While Vedanta plans to enter the oil business by taking 51% to 60% in Cairn India for $8.5-9.6 billion in cash, ONGC is a partner with Cairn India in the joint venture that runs the latter's main oil asset in the country.
Cairn is the operator in block RJ-ON-90/1, the firm's main asset in India, while ONGC is the licensee and a partner in the field with a 30% stake.
ONGC has been reportedly instructed by the country's oil ministry to study the possibility of making an offer for a stake in Cairn India, countering Vedanta Resources Plc's $9.6 billion bid.