The finance ministry has called upon Niti Aayog, a policy think tank of the Indian government, to conduct an assessment of the optimal distribution of cargo across different transportation modes such as road, rail and waterways.
Currently, the majority of cargo in India, around 65 percent, is transported by road, while rail accounts for approximately 20 percent. This skewed distribution prevails despite the fact that road transportation tends to be costlier than rail and waterway options. The Ministry of Railways has set an ambitious target to increase its modal share to 40 percent by 2030. To facilitate this shift, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), under the Ministry of Commerce, has been encouraged to establish an institutional mechanism for executing projects related to multi-modal connectivity among road transport, railways, and shipping.
The finance ministry suggests that for efficient freight movement, there needs to be collaborative planning involving all transportation stakeholders, including railway stations, ports, roads, waterways and airports. This initiative reflects the government’s dedication to improving cargo distribution across transportation modes, thereby enhancing efficiency, reducing transportation costs and promoting sustainable, multimodal logistics practices across India.
