The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the constitution of an Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority (ITLA) to have a synergy among different transport departments and assess the country’s future requirements in infrastructure development. The authority will be set up in the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, serving as the apex body for project planning and appraisal, research, monitoring and evaluation, among other functions.
Minister of Information and Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw said that all the major sectors such as the railways, highways, aviation, among others, will have representation under the new authority.
“Practically, if GDP increases by 7%, the logistics requirement increases by 10% in the economy. To meet this heavy requirement, Highways, railway lines, waterways, ports, airports are being built. To have a unified planning of these things, Gati Shakti portal was launched. Now, to meet the future requirements in transportation and have a synergy among different departments, the Integrated transport & logistics authority will be set up,” said Vaishnaw, as he announced the decision.The fragmented planning across multiple transport-related ministries has been a long-standing challenge in the country. The ITLA is part of the government’s Vision 2047 to reduce logistics costs and improve infrastructure efficiency.
Apart from the long-term planning of transport projects covering roads, railways, ports and shipping, civil aviation, inland waterways and coastal shipping, the authority will do the technical appraisal of the projects worth over Rs 500 crore. It will also monitor the transport and infrastructure projects above Rs 500 crore and assess post-completion impact.
The authority will create a national transport data repository to integrate GSTN (Goods and Services Tax Network) e-way bill, FASTag, Vahan, GPS, and urban traffic data and use freight-flow and origin-destination analytics for evidence based project planning.
The authority will also advise and assist in reviewing and updating National logistics policy 2022. ITLA will also evaluate short-term sectoral plans (five years or so) and annual plans of transport ministries to ensure consistency and alignment with the National Transport Master Plan and promote multi-modal infrastructure development.
