Vedanta's Cairn India announces oil discovery Detailing the latest discovery, Cairn India said its renewed exploration efforts had found an oil column - a producing zone in the desert sands - which had a depth of around 10 metres. Cairn India says the Rajasthan block is currently producing 175,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), which it wants to increase to 300,000 boepd a day. This would represent around 40pc of India's current crude oil production. The announcement came amid talk that Vedanta - which updates on its fourth-quarter production on Wednesday - is about to buy Cairn Energy, its subsidiary's former parent. Last month, Cairn Energy said that annual profits had slumped as income from its oil output fell sharply, following the sale of its stake in its successful Indian business. The company said in a statement that earnings after taxation sank to $72.6m in 2012. Edinburgh-based Cairn Energy, which still owns a 10pc stake in Cairn India, has been focusing on drilling off the coast of Greenland in recent years, and has also expanded in the North Sea. Separately, London-listed explorer Tullow Oil cashed in by selling its Bangladesh assets to KrisEnergy, an Asia-focused oil company, for $42m.