Mumbai, April 9: Vedanta group company Cairn India today said it had made another oil discovery in its prolific Rajasthan block.

The discovery comes after the government allowed the company to explore oil on the block even after the expiry of the exploration phase.

“Cairn India has made its latest oil discovery, the 26th discovery so far in the RJ-ON-90/1 block, following recent policy clarity by the Government of India to conduct exploration activity in development blocks,” the company said in a statement here.

The Cairn scrip rose 1.57 per cent to Rs 290.65 on the Bombay Stock Exchange after the announcement of the news.

The Anil Agarwal group company said the management committee approved the exploration work programme for the RJON-90/1 block on February 14. Cairn India, the operator of the block, commenced drilling of its first exploration well — Raageshwari-South-1 — on February 25.

“Technical evaluations indicate about 10 metres of gross oil column within Dharvi Dungar Formation,” Cairn said. The volume of oil in place and the potential resource base associated with the discovery are under evaluation, it added.

“This reaffirms our belief that an aggressive exploration drilling programme will help harness the full potential of the Barmer basin in Rajasthan,” said Cairn India board member Elango P. said.

Meanwhile, Reliance Industries Ltd has encountered natural gas in the first exploration well it spud in more than five years in KG-D6 block.