Cabinet approves Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority

Convener News Desk

New Delhi, October 6: The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday approved the establishment of an Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority (ITLA) as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to strengthen research, planning, project appraisal, monitoring and impact assessment in the transport and logistics sectors.

The move is aimed at addressing fragmented planning and implementation across various transport ministries and agencies and promoting greater coordination and multimodal integration in infrastructure development.

ITLA will function as the apex institution for integrated transport and logistics planning, research, project appraisal, monitoring, policy support and data analytics.

The authority will prepare a comprehensive National Transport Master Plan with a planning horizon of 10 years or more, covering roads, railways, ports and shipping, civil aviation, inland waterways, coastal shipping, urban mobility and logistics.

It will also evaluate short-term sectoral plans and annual plans of transport ministries to ensure their alignment with the National Transport Master Plan and promote multimodal infrastructure development.

Under the approved framework, ITLA will undertake technical appraisal of Government of India infrastructure projects costing ₹500 crore or more, while financial appraisal will continue through existing mechanisms. It will also monitor such projects and undertake post-implementation impact assessments.

A key responsibility of ITLA will be the creation of a National Transport Data Repository (NTDR) by integrating transport and logistics datasets from multiple sources, including GSTN e-way bills, FASTag, VAHAN, GPS-based systems and urban traffic management systems. The repository will support data-driven planning, monitoring and impact assessment, including freight-flow and origin-destination analysis.

ITLA will also advise on the review and updation of the National Logistics Policy, 2022, besides supporting capacity building, training and skilling in the logistics sector and promoting research and innovation.

According to the government, the authority is expected to strengthen multimodal connectivity, improve infrastructure efficiency, reduce logistics costs and enhance India’s competitiveness in global logistics as part of the Vision 2047 framework.