Mumbai, July 6: Anil Ambani?s plan to venture into gas exploration may not have gone down well with his elder brother?s group, but the stock markets are liking it.

Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL), his vehicle for this purpose, is now being re-rated at the bourses as participants are beginning to gain some sense of the younger scion?s business model for the company.

RNRL was one of the four resulting companies formed due to the demerger of the Reliance empire. Since the company was created for the purpose of buying gas from RIL and distributing it to Reliance Energy Ltd (REL) for its power projects, a number of questions had emerged about the viability of this business model.

A bit of the haze cleared when Reliance Communication Ventures Ltd (RCoVL), now Reliance Communications Ltd, was listed in March.

On that occasion, Anil Ambani revealed that RNRL was exploring the option of entering other businesses that include gas distribution and coal mining. The statement led to the first round of re-rating at RNRL when it hit a 52-week high of Rs 41 from a low of Rs 17. But, after that, the RNRL share succumbed to the flu that gripped the markets.

The downturn has, however, been reversed in recent sessions. RNRL is now in the midst of a second round of re-rating.

Analysts attribute the ascent to RNRL bidding for all 10 coal bed methane (CBM) blocks put on offer by the government for exploration. Reports say the company has emerged as a strong contender for two blocks in Chhattisgarh and one block each in Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Interestingly, RNRL is pitted against Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), which is also one of the bidders for the blocks. RIL is already exploring in five CBM blocks.

This interest in gas exploration has led to brisk activity at the RNRL counter over the past five trading sessions. While the share has touched the 5-per-cent circuit limit on most of these occasions, it has since June 28 seen a gain of 28 per cent.

Even in today's trade when the benchmark index dipped 152 points, the RNRL share was amongst the few gainers. The share ended at Rs 24.30, as against the last close of Rs 23.15, a gain of around 5 per cent. It is not the share price alone which has shown an upward bias. In tune with the heightened interest, trading volume at the RNRL counter has also jumped. While over 6.88 lakh shares were traded at the BSE on June 28, this figure has jumped to over 76 lakh shares, a 11-fold increase.

'Though the current rise seen in RNRL is purely news driven, what is encouraging is that distinct signs are emerging of a business model being in place. Anil Ambani obviously wants to build this company around gas exploration, distribution and other allied activities that could serve the energy space,' an analyst said.