Stock Below Rs 150: Ashok Kumar Goel-Backed Small-Cap Jumps 17%, Logs Highest Single-Day Volume in Over 2 Years

The Indian equity markets were trading in the green on April 7, 2026, after recovering sharply from the day’s low. As of 1:50 PM, the Nifty 50 had reclaimed the important psychological level of 23,000.

With the benchmark indices bouncing back, stock-specific action remained strong on Dalal Street. One Small-Cap stock drawing notable attention was Hindustan Oil Exploration Company (Hindustan Oil Exploration), which witnessed a sharp rise in both price and trading volume.

Hindustan Oil Exploration share price surged as much as 17 per cent on April 7, 2026, supported by unusually strong volumes. By 2:07 PM, around 1.17 crore shares had changed hands, far above its 30-day average volume of 21.67 lakh shares. Notably, this marked the stock’s highest single-day trading volume since February 2024. As a result, the stock has recorded its highest single-day volume in over 2 years.

Hindustan Oil Exploration is among the early private-sector players in India’s exploration and production space. The company has a diversified asset base comprising 10 oil and gas blocks with discovered resources and one exploratory block. These assets are spread across four of India’s seven producing basins, giving it a meaningful presence in the domestic upstream energy segment.

A look at the company’s shareholding pattern for December 2025 shows that Ashok Kumar Goel, in his capacity as trustee of the Ashok Goel Trust, held 1,84,65,078 shares, representing a 13.96 per cent stake in the company.

Ashok Kumar Goel is regarded as a pioneering entrepreneur with interests across multiple businesses. In recent years, he has also been investing in start-ups in the finance and manufacturing sectors, with a focus on decarbonisation and the Make in India theme. He currently serves as Chairman of Vyoman Infraprojects Pvt Ltd and has also been associated with Water Kingdom, which began operations in 1990 and is regarded as one of Asia’s earliest large-scale amusement parks.

He is perhaps best known for leading Essel Propack Ltd into a global Indian company, with manufacturing plants across 12 countries and a presence in nearly 50 markets worldwide. As Chairman and Managing Director, he played a key role in building the company into the world’s leading laminated tubes manufacturer before divesting his majority stake in 2019. He is also associated with several educational, medical and social initiatives, and contributes to philanthropic causes through the Vaibbhav Ashok Goel Foundation.

In terms of stock performance, Hindustan Oil Exploration has gained 22 per cent over the past one week. However, despite the recent rally, the stock remains down 6.33 per cent on a year-to-date basis.

Disclaimer: The article is for informational purposes only and not investment advice.