In a move aimed at increasing consumption of gas, the  Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) simplified gas pipeline tariff.

It yesterday, notified regulations for a ''unified'' tariff structure for over a dozen pipelines that form the National Gas Grid which will lead to a 20-30% rise in transportation charges paid by users near the source but a reduction for consumers in the hinterland.

At the moment, tariff is levied in direct proportion to the distance – the longer the distance to transport the gas, the higher is the charge. This meant that those in far flung places ended up paying more. To change this, the PNGRB has put two-zone tariff.

In Zone-1, it will be 300-km from the source of gas (gas field or LNG import terminal) and Zone-II will be beyond that. Tariff for Zone-I will be 40% of the tariff for the Zone II.

This means that tariff will go up, especially for main user industries like power and fertilizer plants. It is expected that on an average, the tariff for zone-1 customers will go up by 20-30%.

This has led to a smart rally in gas distribution stocks, with almost all of them leading gainers. IGL isamong the top five gainers on the BSE and it briefly touched the 10% UC at Rs.492.95 and now the UC is at 15% at Rs.514.60, wherein IGL went up to Rs.514. Gujarat Gas hit a new 52-week high at Rs.411.20; Mahanagar Gas rose over 13.5% to Rs.1057, Adani Gas went up almost 9% to Rs.344.60; GSPL rose 18% to Rs.243 and GAIL went up over 3.5% to Rs.106.60.