Agro Tech Foods climbed over 3 per cent early Friday after EQ India Fund, run by ace investor Porinju Veliyath, picked 1.50 lakh shares of the company.

Porinju is known for spotting smallcap stocks on Dalal Street.

EQ India Fund, an alternative investment fund, bought 1,50,000 shares of Agro Tech Foods at Rs 650 per share on Thursday, NSE's bulk deal data showed. It aims to focus on turnaround stories and emerging opportunities.

The scrip was 3.55 per cent up at Rs 710 on the NSE at around 9.25 am whereas NSE Nifty rose 30.20 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 10,488.85.

Agro Tech Foods has a goal of becoming a complete food company from a mere edible oil firm by stepping up the proportion of revenue from its foods business, according to a report by Anand Rathi Financial Services.

The scrip had scaled fresh 52-week high of Rs 815 on January 16 and 52-week low of Rs 480.05 on May 30 last year.

It advanced over 22 per cent to Rs 685.25 on Thursday, from Rs 561.30 on the same day last year. Benchmark Sensex gained 15 per cent during the same period.