Centre Clears Integrated Transport and Logistics Authority
- What: Apex transport appraisal body approved
- Threshold: Projects costing ₹500 crore or more
- Data: Integrates FASTag, GSTN, and Vahan
- Approval date: October 6, 2026
Major transport and logistics projects valued at ₹500 crore or more will now face technical scrutiny from a single national authority. The Union Cabinet approved the creation of the Integrated Transport and Logistics Authority (ITLA) on October 6, 2026, establishing an apex body designed to eliminate ministerial silos across roads, railways, ports, civil aviation, and urban transit.
Beyond vetting large capital works, ITLA is tasked with drafting a National Transport Master Plan with a rolling horizon of at least ten years. The authority will evaluate five-year sectoral roadmaps and annual ministry budgets to align them with multimodal connectivity targets. Financial evaluations will remain under existing finance ministry mechanisms, but ITLA will steer technical vetting, issue resolution, and post-completion audits.
Underpinning this mandate is the rollout of a National Transport Data Repository, which will integrate freight movement data from FASTag, GSTN e-way bills, Vahan registries, and urban transit systems. By tracking origin-destination flows in real time, planners aim to diagnose supply chain bottlenecks and benchmark domestic logistics governance against institutional models in Japan, the United States, and China.
The new authority will also steer future updates to the National Logistics Policy (2022) and complement the geospatial mapping work done under PM GatiShakti. For freight operators, port concessionaires, and EPC contractors, the decision signals a structural move toward unified corridor development and faster inter-agency dispute resolution.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Integrated Transport and Logistics Authority?
The Integrated Transport and Logistics Authority (ITLA) is an apex institutional body created to handle unified planning, technical project appraisals, data analytics, and policy monitoring across India's transport sectors.
Which infrastructure projects will ITLA evaluate?
ITLA is mandated to conduct technical appraisals and progress monitoring for central government transport and logistics infrastructure projects costing ₹500 crore or more.
How does ITLA relate to the PM GatiShakti initiative?
ITLA complements PM GatiShakti and the National Logistics Policy by serving as a dedicated institutional mechanism for research, project appraisal, post-implementation impact evaluation, and long-term master planning.
What is the National Transport Data Repository?
Managed by ITLA, the repository unifies data streams from GSTN e-way bills, FASTag, Vahan, and GPS systems to conduct freight-flow and origin-destination analytics for evidence-based planning.
Source
PIB Press Release ID 2319778, Cabinet Decision · 2026-10-06
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