The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the establishment of an Integrated Transport and Logistics Authority (ITLA), a proposed institutional framework intended to bring greater coordination to India’s transport infrastructure planning. The authority will work across roads, railways, ports, aviation, inland waterways and urban mobility, with the objective of moving away from isolated planning of individual transport modes. The decision is aimed at creating a unified approach to long-term infrastructure development, project appraisal and data management as India expands its transport networks to meet rising passenger and freight demand.

Under the proposed framework, ITLA will prepare transport master plans extending beyond 10 years, providing a longer planning horizon for infrastructure projects and network expansion. Such plans are expected to examine the interaction between different modes of transport rather than treating roads, railways, ports and airports as separate systems. A coordinated planning mechanism can help identify infrastructure requirements across sectors, improve connections between transport networks and support decisions on where new capacity is required. The authority’s role would therefore extend beyond individual projects to the broader structure of the country’s transport and logistics network.

A key responsibility of ITLA will be the appraisal of major infrastructure projects with an estimated value of ₹500 crore or more. The proposed threshold would bring large projects across different transport sectors within a common evaluation framework. Project appraisal can help assess the need for an investment, its expected benefits and its relationship with existing or planned infrastructure. A central mechanism could also provide a basis for comparing projects across transport modes and examining whether proposed investments complement one another. The move comes as the government continues to pursue large-scale infrastructure development and seeks greater efficiency in the movement of people and goods.

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The authority is also expected to integrate transport-related data from different sectors. Roads, railways, ports, aviation, waterways and urban transport systems currently generate large volumes of information relating to infrastructure, capacity, traffic, freight movement and network usage. Bringing such data into a more coordinated framework could help policymakers develop a clearer picture of how different parts of the transport system interact. Better data integration could also support planning decisions, particularly for multimodal connectivity, where the movement of goods or passengers involves more than one form of transport.

The proposed ITLA is intended to strengthen coordination between transport infrastructure planning and the country’s wider logistics requirements. Efficient logistics depends not only on individual roads, railway lines, ports or airports but also on how effectively these networks connect with one another. Gaps between transport modes can increase travel times, handling requirements and overall costs, particularly for freight moving through multiple stages before reaching its destination. A unified planning framework could help identify such gaps at an earlier stage and encourage infrastructure development that takes the entire transport chain into account.

The Cabinet decision also reflects the growing importance of long-term planning as India expands its physical infrastructure and seeks to improve the efficiency of its transport and logistics systems. By combining long-range master planning, appraisal of major projects and cross-sector data integration, ITLA is envisaged as a mechanism for improving coordination across government departments and transport modes. The effectiveness of the proposed authority will ultimately depend on how its planning recommendations are implemented, how agencies share data and how closely future investments are aligned with the integrated plans. If implemented as intended, the framework could provide a more coordinated basis for deciding transport priorities and developing infrastructure over the coming decade and beyond.

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