Seamless connectivity

Integrated transport planning will bolster mobility

The Union Cabinet’s approval for the formation of the Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority (ITLA) is a welcome recognition that India’s transport infrastructure cannot be planned effectively in departmental silos. Roads, railways, ports, aviation, inland waterways and urban transport are economically interdependent. Yet investment decisions are still largely taken within individual ministries and agencies, often without adequately considering their implications for the wider transport network. ITLA is intended to address this gap. It will prepare a National Transport Master Plan with a horizon of more than 10 years, assess sectoral and annual plans of transport ministries, technically appraise central infrastructure projects costing ₹500 crore or more, monitor their implementation, and undertake post-project impact assessment. It will also create a National Transport Data Repository, drawing on sources such as goods and services tax eway bills, FASTag, Vahan and other mobility data. The rationale is sound. It is not the objective of the transport policy to maximise investment in individual modes but to minimise the cost and time involved in moving people and goods. A new highway may be valuable, but its economic payoff could depend on the availability of a rail connection, an efficient port, or a logistics hub. Integrated planning can, therefore, improve capital allocation, reduce duplication, and lower logistics costs.

 

India has often created institutions for coordination without giving them sufficient authority to coordinate. The Unified Metropolitan Transport Authorities (UMTAs), proposed in several cities, have often remained largely advisory because the agencies controlling transport infrastructure, operations and finances continue to function independently. New Delhi’s renewed effort to establish a UMTA is a reminder that even within a single metropolitan area, integration remains difficult when responsibilities and funding are fragmented. The same lesson applies to ITLA. As a special-purpose vehicle under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, rather than under a transport ministry, it has the potential to provide a more neutral perspective across modes. But neutrality alone will not make ministries comply with its recommendations. Its appraisal and monitoring functions must have a meaningful bearing on project selection, investment priorities and implementation. Otherwise, the authority risks becoming another layer of consultation. There is also a risk of duplication with PM Gati Shakti.

 

The proposed data repository could be particularly valuable. India has enormous transport-related data, but it remains dispersed across ministries, operators and platforms. Bringing these together could make it possible to  better understand freight flows, congestion, vehicle utilisation, and passenger demand. But data integration will require common standards, interoperability, and appropriate safeguards, not merely another database. The experience of the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) offers a useful caution at the urban level. Launched in 2019 with the promise of “One Nation, One Card”, it was meant to allow seamless payments across metros, buses and other transport systems. Yet interoperability has progressed only gradually: As recently as July this year, the government said the NCMC was functional in only 13 metro projects and 11 bus transport corporations. The problem illustrates how difficult genuine integration can be. ITLA should, therefore, be judged not by the quality of its master plan but by whether that plan changes investment and implementation.