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Joint effort. New authority to prepare 10-year master plan, unite various arms of logistics sector under single framework

By T E Raja Simhan

Updated - October 19, 2026 at 06:24 AM.

Recognising the need for more coordinated infrastructure planning, improved freight visibility and connectivity between transport modes, the Centre has decided to establish an Integrated Transport and Logistics Authority (ITLA).

The ITLA will prepare a 10-year national transport master plan, bringing roads, railways, ports and shipping, civil aviation, inland waterways, coastal shipping, urban mobility and logistics under a common framework.

It will evaluate the sectoral plans prepared by transport ministries, undertake technical evaluation of Central infrastructure projects worth ₹500 crore or more, and monitor their implementation. Financial appraisal will continue under the existing mechanism.

A key component of the master plan is the proposed National Transport Data Repository (NTDR), integrating information from sources such as GSTN e-way bills, FASTags, vehicle databases, GPS-based systems and urban traffic management platforms.

The authority comes at a time when India’s logistics sector is expected to double in size to $600 billion by 2031-32, driven by infrastructure development, policy reforms and improved connectivity, said Subhash Chandra Karol, Director, Logistics Division, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

Logistics contributed more than 13 per cent to the GDP and played a critical role in supporting manufacturing growth. The two sectors were complementary, making efficient logistics infrastructure essential to strengthening the manufacturing ecosystem, he said.

The logistics cost in India is pegged around 8 per cent, and the authority will work to reduce this.

Beyond siloed planning

Ankur Kumar, Associate Director, Advisory, Transport and Logistics, PwC, said the logistics landscape long felt the need for a unified institutional mechanism to drive planning and reforms.

While the DPIIT’s logistics division has launched initiatives such as PM GatiShakti and the National Logistics Policy, there was a need for an overarching framework cutting across multiple transport ministries and modes.

“The significance of ITLA goes beyond creating another institution. It represents a potential shift from sectoral transport planning under individual ministries to integrated transport and logistics planning across the system,” Kumar said.

Jagannarayan Padmanabhan, Senior Director and Global Head-Consulting, Crisil Intelligence, said, “ITLA signals a fundamental shift from building transport infrastructure in silos to planning the transport network as an integrated system. For logistics, this is critical: The objective is no longer simply to add road, rail, port or aviation capacity, but to optimise the end-to-end movement of freight.”

Aligning investment decisions across modes and using data to guide planning could improve network efficiency and reduce logistics costs, he said.

Data for freight visibility

The proposed data repository could help identify freight flows, transport bottlenecks, truck waiting times and underutilised terminal capacity. Although India generates substantial transport data, much of it remains dispersed across various digital platforms.

Kumar said the bigger gap was the absence of common metrics to gauge the performance of the transport and logistics system as a whole.

A national repository could establish benchmarks and track improvements over time, he said.

Nikhil Agarwal, President, CJ Darcl Logistics, said integrating information from e-way bills, FASTag, Vahan and GPS could help track how freight moves, where trucks wait and where cargo volumes could be built up at terminals.

“That helps the government plan better and helps operators like us cut empty running,” he said.

However, improved data and planning will need to translate into improved connectivity and execution to deliver tangible benefits.

Connectivity remains key

Agarwal said weak connectivity and low, irregular cargo volumes at terminals continued to constrain multimodal transport. Low volumes increase handling costs, while irregular cargo movements make it difficult to plan truck deployments for first- and last-mile transportation.

“Put together, a rail or coastal movement often ends up costing more than sending the same load directly by road. Once connectivity improves and volumes build up, handling costs will come down and multimodal will start making economic sense,” he said.

Customers want faster and safe delivery of goods at lower costs, Agarwal said, adding that they would be willing to change transport modes if these requirements are met.

Kushal Kumar Singh, Partner, Deloitte, said integrated planning could strengthen multimodal connectivity and improve resource utilisation.

“With India working towards reducing logistics costs as a share of GDP, the focus now must be on translating integrated planning into coordinated execution across transport modes,” he said.

Rajesh Menon, a logistics expert, said ITLA would build on the experience of PM GatiShakti and extend multimodal integration through a 10-year infrastructure master plan.

Agreeing with this, J Krishnan of S Natesa Iyer Logistics LLP, a Chennai-based freight forwarder, said unimodal transport planning and execution were no longer sufficient. End-to-end visibility, including first- and last-mile connectivity, was essential as supply-chain reliability gained importance.

Execution will be the test

ITLA will also support the review and upgrade of the National Logistics Policy, 2022, and promote research, innovation and capacity-building.

However, as Kumar of PwC noted, the real test will be whether ITLA can create greater cohesion in planning, investment and implementation, supported by common data and measurable outcomes.

For logistics operators, manufacturers and exporters, improved coordination could mean more reliable freight movement, improved asset utilisation and lower supply chain costs.

Published on October 19, 2026

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