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India will need 216 multimodal logistics parks (MMLPs) by 2047 to achieve its freight modal shift goals and better connect industrial centres with the rail network, according to a report released on Friday by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Knight Frank.

The report identified inadequate connectivity between industrial clusters and rail terminals as a key obstacle. (File representative photo)It said that integrating dedicated freight corridors with multimodal logistics parks can reduce door-to-door logistics costs by up to 43% compared with road transport, while substantially reducing cargo handling and dwell times.

A Union government official had told HT that the government had now downscaled its approach to build only nine of them, primarily due to land acquisition constraints.

The report identified inadequate connectivity between industrial clusters and rail terminals as a key obstacle preventing greater use of railways for freight movement. While rail transport offers lower line-haul costs over longer distances, industries often continue to rely on trucking due to difficulties moving cargo between factories and railheads.

The report ‘Fast-Tracking MMLPs to Enable Modal Shift’ said that despite nearly $360 billion of public investment in transport infrastructure over the past decade, India’s freight movement remains heavily dependent on roads, which account for about 70% of cargo movement.

“The inflection point in terms of logistics cost is 600 kilometres below which road becomes cheaper than rail. If the first-mile and last-mile is within 50 kilometres, then it is 800 kilometres, and if the first-mile and last-mile is 100 kilometres, then it is 1,000 kilometres,” Union road transport and highways secretary V

Umashankar said at the report launch event, citing the 2025 DPIIT-NCAER report.

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Umashankar also called for closer coordination between ministries and transport modes in infrastructure planning.

“Till recently, roads and rail have been working with their own set of planning. At some points maybe we are better positioned than the railways to achieve the end objective and in many cases railways will be better placed than us to deliver the objective,” he said.

The report said experiences from Germany, the Netherlands and Singapore show that integrated logistics parks improve supply chain efficiency and support a greater shift towards rail-based freight movement.

It recommended faster implementation of MMLPs through greater private sector participation, industrial clustering and freight aggregation to improve freight flows and utilisation.

“The challenge is no longer one of infrastructure creation alone. India has made substantial progress in building transport corridors; the next phase requires integrating them into a seamless, commercially viable freight ecosystem. The critical missing link lies in multimodal interchange infrastructure capable of connecting dispersed industrial demand to high-capacity rail networks,” said Shishir Baijal, international partner, chairman and managing director at Knight Frank India.