The Union Cabinet has approved setting up the Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority to strengthen transport planning and monitoring.
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved the setting up of a Special Purpose Vehicle, the Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority (ITLA), to strengthen research, planning, appraisal, monitoring and impact assessment within the transportation and logistics domains. The approval is aimed at addressing long-standing challenges arising from fragmented planning and implementation across multiple transport-related ministries and agencies, with ITLA expected to foster greater coordination and multi-modal integration and enhance the efficiency, sustainability and effectiveness of transport infrastructure development in India.
ITLA will function as the national apex institution for integrated transport and logistics planning, research, project appraisal, monitoring, policy support and data analytics. It will prepare a comprehensive National Transport Master Plan with a planning horizon of ten years or more, covering roads, railways, ports and shipping, civil aviation, inland waterways, coastal shipping, urban mobility and logistics. Under an integrated planning framework, ITLA will evaluate short-term sectoral plans of around five years and annual plans of transport ministries to ensure consistency and alignment with the National Transport Master Plan and to promote multi-modal infrastructure development.
ITLA will undertake technical appraisal of government infrastructure projects costing ₹500 crore or more, while financial appraisal will continue through existing mechanisms. It will also monitor the implementation of transport and infrastructure projects above ₹500 crore, provide a coordinated mechanism for issue resolution, and conduct post-implementation impact assessment of these projects.
As part of its mandate, ITLA will build a National Transport Data Repository by drawing on datasets from sources including the GSTN e-way bill system, FASTag, Vahan, GPS-based systems and urban traffic management systems, and will carry out data analytics such as freight flow and origin-destination analysis to support planning, monitoring and impact assessment. ITLA will also advise on the review and updating of the National Logistics Policy (2022), support capacity building, training and skilling in the logistics sector, and promote research and innovation in transport and logistics.
The government said the establishment of ITLA would play a pivotal role in realising India’s Vision 2047 by strengthening multimodal connectivity, improving infrastructure efficiency, reducing logistics costs and enhancing India’s global logistics competitiveness, while building institutional capacity for research, planning, data integration, project monitoring and evaluation, and supporting the adoption of international best practices.
Source: Press Information Bureau
