The board of Vedanta on Tuesday approved a $270 million capex plan for its oil and gas business. The green signal came on a day the mining conglomerate reported a 36.5 per cent rise in consolidated net profit for the quarter ended June 30.

Vedanta said its strategic priority for the Cairn oil and gas business is to augment reserves and increase near-term volume through infill wells and enhanced oil recovery.

“In order to deliver this the board has approved capex investment (net) of $270 million across fields in the Rajasthan block to drill wells and construct surface facility for ASP (Alkaline Surfactant Polymer — a method to increase oil recovery) injection,’’ Vedanta said. The project timeline is 12-30 months and it will be funded through internal accruals.

In 2011, Vedanta had completed the acquisition of Cairn India. In 2017, Cairn India was merged with the Anil Agarwal-led company.

Meanwhile, Vedanta reported a consolidated net profit of ₹3,606 crore (attributable to owners of the company) for the April-June period amid improved margins and robust cost reduction across all operations. It had clocked a net profit of ₹2,640 crore in the same period a year ago.

This came after revenues increased to ₹35,239 crore from ₹33,342 crore in the year-ago period. Total expenses declined to ₹30,772 crore from ₹31,973 crore.

Vedanta said the proposed demerger of its businesses is on track and it has already filed the demerger scheme with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) after getting approval from secured creditors.

Arun Mishra, executive director, said the company has delivered a strong start to the year, with exceptional EBITDA improvement of 47 per cent and profit after tax rising 54 per cent year-over-year following improved margins.