India's Reliance Industries made a net profit of 10.02bn rupees between July and September this year, a 25% rise compared with last year.

Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani said Reliance Industries was the first Indian private company to make a net profit of more than 10bn rupees ($207m; �133m) in three months.

The oil and petrochemicals firm is India's largest private sector company and it runs the world's fifth largest refinery.

"We are happy with Reliance's strong financial performance, in a period marked by slowdown in global and domestic demand," vice chairman Anil Ambani said in a company statement.

Sales for the period were up 10% compared with July to September 2001.

Major find

Reliance Industries also announced a major new gas find off the eastern state of Andhra Pradesh in the Krishna-Godavari Basin.

Mr Ambani said the discovery was one of the largest gas finds this year.

He said it signalled a giant step in ensuring energy security for India, and could account for almost 4% of India's energy needs.

But Nathan Piper, an oil and gas consultant at Wood McKenzie, told the BBC's World Business Report he doesn't think this find is the answer to India's oil and gas problems.

"Really an oil discovery would be of more significance to India," he said, because India now imports between 60% and 70% of its oil.

"However it is a large gas field and it certainly will make India develop its infrastructure projects far faster."

Reliance shares rose almost 5% on news of the jump in profits.