Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, during the media briefing, said that the need for such an institution arises from the faster growth in logistics requirements compared with economic growth.
“Practically, if GDP grows by 7 per cent, logistics requirements grow by around 10 per cent,” he highlighted.
With India expanding highways, railway lines, waterways, ports and airports, the proposed authority is expected to study future transport requirements and help coordinate infrastructure planning across major sectors and ministries.
He added that ITLA would study transport patterns linked to urbanisation, Industrialisation, rural movement, seasonal peaks, passenger movements and goods movement so that infrastructure requirements can be anticipated in advance.
The authority will also prepare long-term transport master plans and undertake technical appraisal of major transport projects.
The government release said that ITLA will undertake technical appraisal of central government infrastructure projects costing Rs 500 crore or more, while financial appraisal will continue through the existing mechanisms.
A key feature will be the use of transport and logistics data for planning. The minister said that data from GST, FASTag and railway records would be brought together for data-driven planning.
The release noted GSTN e-way bills, FASTag, Vahan, GPS-based systems and urban traffic management systems as potential sources for the National Transport Data Repository.
Explaining the difference between ILTA and PM Gati Shakti, the minister said that Gati Shakti provides the technology layer to map existing infrastructure, while the ILTA would focus on determining the country’s present and future transport requirements.
“The next step should be: what is the country’s requirement today? What will be the requirement five years from now?” he pointed out.
The minister explained that the approach was to identify where networks would reach saturation and take corrective measures before bottlenecks emerge.
“Instead of waiting for saturation to happen and then planning, if you can predict where the saturation will be, plan accordingly and take steps today, before the problems come,” he said.
The authority will function as a national apex institution and is expected to bring central and state governments together for unified transport planning. It will also support research, project appraisal, monitoring, policy support and data analytics, he noted.
For industry, Vaishnaw said that the move is significant, as transport capacity is closely linked to the movement of raw materials, finished goods and exports. A more coordinated approach across transport modes could help align infrastructure creation with future manufacturing, industrial and logistics requirements.