Mumbai, April 20 (IANS) A day after Vedanta's Indian subsidiary Sesa Goa acquired 10.4 percent stake in Cairn India for about $1.5 billion, the shares of the oil major were ruling only moderately higher at the Bombay Stock Exchange.

While Cairn India's scrip was trading 1.18 percent up at Rs.348.30 around noon, the Sesa Goa stock was ruling a modest 0.13 percent higher at Rs.307.80.

On Monday, Vedanta Resources Plc had bought a 10.4 percent stake in Cairn India from Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas. The Anil Agarwal-led metals and mining firm bought 200 million shares from Petronas at Rs.331 per share, making the transaction worth about $1.5 billion.

The acquisition was in addition to the open offer launched by Sesa Goa on April 11 for a 20 percent stake in Cairn India.

The Cairn-Vedanta deal, which was struck eight months back, is yet to get the government's nod but has got the approval from markets regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India.

Vedanta had announced its intention of acquiring Cairn India in August 2010. The deal was structured such that the London-listed Vedanta group would hold between 51-60 percent of Cairn India for $8.5-9.6 billion.

It said that after all the necessary government approvals and post the acquisition process, it would own between 51-70.4 percent of Cairn India.

The government, on its part, is still deliberating on the issue and recently referred the matter to a group of ministers led by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.