Cairn India, one of the largest independent oil and gas exploration and production companies in India, witnessed a rise in share prices on Wednesday after the board of directors has declared an interim dividend and announced 3 new discoveries in Rajasthan block.

The board of directors approved interim dividend of 50% or Rs 5 a share of Rs 10 each for the financial year 2014-15. This will entail an outflow of Rs 10.97 billion including the dividend distribution tax of Rs 1.59 billion. The said dividend will be paid on or before Oct. 13, 2014 to shareholders on record as on Sept. 23, 2014, it said.

Three new oil discoveries have been made in Block RJ-ON-90/1, taking the total number of discoveries in the block to date to 36, the company said. "This further exemplifies the capabilities of Cairn's exploration team operating in this prolific onshore block," it added.

Shares of the company are trading at Rs 326.50, up Rs 6.25, or 1.95% at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Wednesday at 1:57 p.m.

The scrip has touched an intra-day high of Rs 329.35 and low of Rs 320.55. The total volume of shares traded at the BSE is 109,559.