Cairn India, which operates the onshore Barmer block in Rajasthan, on Wednesday posted a 10-fold increase in net profit in the fourth quarter of 2010-11, beating analysts’ forecasts.

The surge in net profit to Rs 2,457.80 crore, from Rs 245.19 crore a year ago, was due to higher crude oil output, increase in net realisation on every barrel of oil sold and lower ope­rating cost.

According to a Bloo­mberg estimate of 20 analysts, the oil explorer was expected to report a net profit of Rs 2,300 crore. Another poll of 10 analysts by Dow Jones Newswire forecast a net profit of Rs 2,309 crore.

The surge came on a revenue of Rs 3,654.50 crore, up from Rs 692 crore a year ago.

On average, Cairn India pumped 161,194 barrels of oil and oil equivalent (boe) in Q4 compared with 68,960 boe a year ago.

Its average oil price realisation was also much higher at $94.2 a barrel compared with $71 in Q4 of 2009-10.Mauritius for long refused to share information but has now agreed to do so only in specific cases involving persons not resident in that country. Ved says this will surely help in curbing round-tripping from Mauritius.

Ever since the treaty with Mauritius was signed in 1986, round-tripping has been suspected but the government of either country did nothing to stop it. The Supreme Court coming down heavily on the authorities for their reluctance to track down black money and its hoarders and the consequent media and opposition outcry have forced the government to act. All along the Union government hid behind the plea that countries where Indians have stashed away black money are not willing to share information.

After India mounted pressure, Mauritius has now agreed to rework the double tax avoidance treaty. A joint working group has been set up to redraft the treaty and even as it works, Mauritius has agreed to share information under the existing treaty.

“All along Mauritius declined to share information under the pretext of confidentiality. Now they have agreed to share information on a selective basis,” another government official said.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a group that has been in the forefront of a global campaign to crack down on tax havens, recently said India’s treaty with Mauritius had gaps and that Mauritius had messy norms offering room for routing ill-gotten money from one nation to another.

Indian agencies are said to have increased their vigilance after they noticed a significant surge in venture capital funds coming in from Mauritius in sectors like telecom and real estate. Fund flows from other tax havens have also been under close scrutiny.

The news of Mauritius falling in line came a day after finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said that the income- tax department was engaged in tackling the black money issue. He said, “The government was amending the treaties by inserting a clause on information regarding the banking sector and also entering into tax information exchange agreements with tax havens like Cayman Islands and St Kitts. This clause has already been inserted in the treaties with 41 countries.”