The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the establishment of a Special Purpose Vehicle called the Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority (ITLA) on October 6, 2026. This approval addresses long-standing challenges from fragmented planning and implementation across multiple transport-related Ministries and agencies, aiming to enhance efficiency, sustainability, and effectiveness of transport infrastructure development through greater coordination and multi-modal integration.
ITLA will function as the national apex institution for integrated transport and logistics planning, research, project appraisal, monitoring, policy support, and data analytics. Its key responsibilities include preparing 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. The authority will evaluate short-term sectoral plans (5 years) and annual plans of transport Ministries to ensure consistency with the National Transport Master Plan.
For major infrastructure projects, ITLA will undertake technical appraisal of Government of India projects costing ₹500 crore or more, while financial appraisal will continue through existing mechanisms. The authority will monitor implementation of transport and infrastructure projects above ₹500 crore, provide coordinated issue resolution, and conduct post-implementation impact assessments. ITLA will build a National Transport Data Repository (NTDR) by integrating transport and logistics datasets from multiple sources including GSTN e-way bill, FASTag, Vahan, GPS-based systems, and urban traffic management systems, enabling freight flow and origin-destination analytics for planning and monitoring purposes.
Additional functions include advising and assisting in the review and updation of the National Logistics Policy (2022), capacity building, training, and skilling in the logistics sector, and promoting research and innovations in transport and logistics. The establishment of ITLA is positioned as pivotal for realizing India's Vision 2047 by strengthening multimodal connectivity, improving infrastructure efficiency, reducing logistics costs, and enhancing India's global logistics competitiveness through institutional capacity building for research, planning, big data integration, project monitoring, and evaluation.