ONGC third-quarter profit beats estimate

(Reuters) - India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp on Thursday posted a 64.8 percent jump in third-quarter profit, handily beating analysts estimates, boosted by higher revenue from offshore operations.

ONGC's profit stood at 82.63 billion rupees ($1.16 billion) in the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with 50.15 billion rupees a year earlier, the oil and gas explorer said in a stock exchange filing.

Analysts on average had expected a profit of 73.71 billion rupees, according to Refinitiv data.

Revenue from operations climbed over 20 percent to 276.94 billion rupees, while revenue from offshore operations rose 19.1 percent, ONGC said.

($1 = 71.1580 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Krishna V Kurup in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)