Delhi, October 6: The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday approved the setting up of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), namely, Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority (ITLA) to strengthen research, planning, appraisal, monitoring and impact assessment within the broad domains of transportation and logistics.

The approval seeks to address the long-standing challenges arising from fragmented planning and implementation across multiple transport-related Ministries and agencies. By fostering greater coordination and multi-modal integration, ITLA is expected to enhance the efficiency, sustainability and effectiveness of transport infrastructure development in India.

What will be the key roles and responsibilities of the ITLA:

National Apex Institution:ITLA will function as the apex body for integrated transport and logistics planning, research, project appraisal and monitoring, policy support and data analytics.

Long-Term National Transport Master Plan:ITLA will prepare 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.

Integrated Planning Framework:ITLA will evaluate short-term sectoral plans (5 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.

Technical Appraisal of Major Projects:ITLA will undertake technical appraisal of infrastructure projects of Government of India, costing Rs.500 crore or more. Financial appraisal will continue to be carried out through the existing financial appraisal mechanisms.

Monitoring and Impact Assessment:ITLA will monitor implementation of transport & infrastructure projects above Rs.500 crore and provide a coordinated mechanism for issue resolution and will undertake post-implementation impact assessment of these projects.

National Transport Data Repository (NTDR):ITLA will build a unified transport data repository by obtaining relevant transport and logistics datasets from multiple sources, including GSTN e-way bill, FASTag, Vahan, GPS-based systems, urban traffic management systems and other relevant databases and carry out data analytics (e.g. Freight Flow/O-D analytics) for planning, monitoring and impact assessment.

The Cabinet said the ITLA will build institutional capacity for research, planning, big data integration, project monitoring, and evaluation, while supporting capacity building and adoption of international best practices.