Setting up of logistics authority important to strengthen multimodal connectivity: Experts

New Delhi: The government's decision to set up an Integrated Transport and Logistics Authority (ITLA) would play an important role in strengthening multimodal connectivity and ensuring more efficient utilisation of resources in the country, according to experts.

They said the authority's ability to align projects, monitor implementation and improve investment efficiency will be critical to reducing logistics costs and strengthening the competitiveness of India's transport and logistics ecosystem.

The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved setting up this authority, which will function as the apex body for integrated transport and logistics planning, research, project appraisal and monitoring, policy support and data analytics.


"Integrated transport and logistics planning can play a critical role in strengthening multimodal connectivity and ensuring more efficient utilisation of resources. With India working towards reducing logistics costs as a share of GDP, the focus now must be on translating integrated planning into coordinated execution across transport modes," Kushal Kumar Singh, Partner, Deloitte India, said.

Commenting on the government's decision, Suryansh Jalan, Chief Business Officer, FarEye, said that every extra day goods spend waiting is a day of working capital locked up.

"ITLA's opportunity is to improve how India orchestrates its transport network: connecting infrastructure, freight data and decision-making across road, rail and ports," he said, adding that the value lies in using that intelligence to decide where to invest, which bottlenecks to resolve first and how to coordinate execution across ministries and states.

He added that better planning should enable businesses to make better daily decisions about when to dispatch, which mode to use and how to respond to disruption.

"For large enterprises and SMEs alike, greater predictability can mean less buffer inventory, shorter waiting times, better asset utilisation and more reliable delivery commitments. For smaller businesses, releasing cash tied up in inventory can create room to grow," Jalan said.