Fragmented, mode-wise transport planning has raised India's logistics costs. Examine how the Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority seeks to correct this, and what limits it faces.

India's logistics cost is 7.97% of GDP (₹24.01 lakh crore, 2023-24). Road accounts for 41.7% of it and rail for only 6.7% [1]. This skew comes from ministries planning roads, rail and ports separately. The Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority (ITLA) was approved by the Union Cabinet as an SPV in October 2026 to plan them as one network [2].

How ITLA seeks to correct fragmentation

• Single plan: ITLA will prepare a National Transport Master Plan for all modes, covering 10 years or more. Ministries' ~5-year sectoral plans and annual plans must align with it [2].
• Technical appraisal: ITLA will vet central projects worth ₹500 crore or more. This screens out duplicated capacity, such as parallel road and rail corridors [2].
• Full project cycle: ITLA will also monitor these projects, resolve bottlenecks and conduct post-completion impact assessments [2].
• Evidence-based planning: A National Transport Data Repository will pool GSTN e-way bill, FASTag, Vahan and GPS data [2]. This supports the National Logistics Policy's (NLP) data-driven goals, including a top-25 LPI rank by 2030 [3].

Limits it faces

• Overlapping institutions: GatiShakti's Network Planning Group and Empowered Group of Secretaries already check projects multi-modally [4]. If both they and ITLA keep running, projects face parallel clearances. Financial appraisal also stays outside ITLA [2].
• Costs beyond transport: Warehousing (24.8%) and handling/administration (16.1%) make up about 41% of logistics cost [1]. A mandate built around projects barely reaches them.
• Last mile and federal gap: Improving the first and last 50 km of a 600 km trip can sharply cut costs [1]. Those stretches are state and city roads, mostly below ₹500 crore, and an SPV cannot bind states [2]. SMILE city logistics plans cover only 8 pilot cities [1].
• MSMEs left out: Smaller firms face higher logistics costs [1], but a ₹500-crore threshold mainly captures big corridors.
• Data governance: Pooling tax, toll and vehicle data raises privacy and purpose-limitation concerns.

ITLA gives a single institution to the GatiShakti–NLP vision of integrated, data-driven planning. To matter, it should absorb the NPG's appraisal work rather than add a new layer. It should also link to states through SMILE and LEADS [1] and publish its impact assessments. Its real test is whether freight actually shifts to rail and water. If it does, ITLA will advance SDG-9's goal of resilient infrastructure and cut India's logistics costs.