The Bombay Stock Exchange saw a 10 percent rise in the stocks of fertilizer companies today, following the March 27 gas sales and transportation contracts between Reliance Industries (RIL) and 12 fertilizer firms, who would receive the first produce from RIL's eastern offshore KG-D6 (Krishna Godavari-Dhirubhai 6) fields.

The chief gainers among the fertilizer companies included National Fertilizer soaring more than 10 per cent; Rashtriya Chemical Fertilizer 10.32 per cent; Nagarjuna Fertilizer surged 7.84 per cent; Chambal Fertilizer 7.58 per cent; Deepak Fertilizer 4,77 percent; Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals 4.46 per cent; and Gujarat Narmada rising 4.42 percent.

According to an unnamed source, the production of gas from D6 block of the KG basin will bring in a potentially huge revenue stream for the oil-to-yarn multinational, implying a near $2 billion addition to RIL's bottomline during peak production levels, which by the end of 2009 will be 80 million standard cubic metres per day (mmscmd).

At present, the demand for gas in India is expected to be about 190 mmscmd; where as the supply is only 80 mmscmd - which implies an overall shortfall of more than 110 mmscmd.

PMS Prasad, president and CEO, Oil and Gas, RIL, said that once D6 block production takes off "a major portion of the current shortfall in India's gas availability can be met."