New Delhi, October 6: The Union Cabinet has approved the setting up of an Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority (ITLA) as a Special Purpose Vehicle to strengthen integrated planning, appraisal, monitoring, research and data-driven policymaking across India’s transport and logistics sectors.
ITLA will function as the national apex institution for integrated transport and logistics planning, research, project appraisal and monitoring, policy support and data analytics.
A key part of its mandate will be the technical appraisal of Government of India infrastructure projects costing ₹500 crore or more. Financial appraisal of such projects will continue through existing mechanisms.
The authority will also monitor transport and infrastructure projects costing above ₹500 crore, provide a coordinated mechanism for resolving implementation issues and undertake post-implementation impact assessments.
ITLA 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 shorter-term sectoral plans of around five years and annual plans prepared by transport ministries to ensure alignment with the National Transport Master Plan and support multimodal infrastructure development.
Another major responsibility will be the creation of a National Transport Data Repository, bringing together transport and logistics datasets from sources including GSTN e-way bills, FASTag, Vahan, GPS-based systems and urban traffic management systems.
The repository will support data analytics, including freight-flow and origin-destination analysis, for infrastructure planning, monitoring and impact assessment.
ITLA will also advise and assist in the review and updating of the National Logistics Policy, 2022, while supporting capacity building, training and skilling in the logistics sector and promoting research and innovation in transport and logistics.
The government said the new authority is intended to address fragmentation in transport planning and implementation across ministries and agencies by improving coordination and multimodal integration.
According to the Cabinet, the institutional framework is expected to improve infrastructure efficiency, strengthen multimodal connectivity and reduce logistics costs, with ITLA expected to play a key role in realising India’s Vision 2047.
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