India’s first permanent and independent research centre dedicated to the economics of transportation, mobility, and logistics aims to advance evidence‑based policymaking.
The national highway development agency, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), has signed an MoU with the economic policy think tank, the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), to establish the NHAI Centre for Economics of Transportation, Mobility and Logistics.
Located at NCAER, this will be the country’s first permanent and independent research centre dedicated to the economics of transportation, mobility, and logistics, aiming to boost evidence-based policymaking. The centre is being set up with a founding contribution from NHAI, while NCAER will mobilise additional support from allied institutions and partners.
The agreement was signed at NHAI headquarters in New Delhi in the presence of senior officials from both organisations. This first-of-its-kind initiative aims to integrate research, data analytics, and evidence-based decision-making into the development and management of India’s rapidly expanding national highway infrastructure.
Speaking on the occasion, Santosh Kumar Yadav, Chairman, NHAI, said, “This partnership with NCAER will create a dedicated platform for high‑quality research and policy analysis, helping strengthen planning, investment, and asset management decisions in the transportation sector.”
The centre will undertake policy‑relevant research across a wide range of thematic areas, including national highway economics, freight logistics, modal integration, regional economic impacts of highway investments, toll policy, asset monetisation, road safety interventions, and technology adoption in highway operations and maintenance. The research outputs will assist the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, NHAI, and other government agencies in designing policies and programmes that enhance efficiency, sustainability, and user experience across the transportation ecosystem.
Beyond research, the centre will serve as a knowledge hub for the transportation sector by disseminating findings through policy briefs, working papers, flagship reports, stakeholder consultations, workshops, and academic engagements. It will also play an important role in developing future talent and institutional capacity in transportation economics.
The centre will be anchored by an advisory committee comprising leading economists, transportation specialists, public policy experts, and eminent academicians, along with NHAI’s Member (Finance) and the Director General of NCAER.