<p data-path-to-node="4"><b data-path-to-node="4" data-index-in-node="0">NEW DELHI</b> — In a major infrastructure policy move designed to significantly enhance macro-level logistics modeling, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has entered into a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER). The strategic partnership marks the official establishment of the NHAI Centre for Economics of Transportation, Mobility and Logistics, which will operate as a dedicated institutional body engineered to address systemic transport bottlenecks across the country.</p><p data-path-to-node="5">Operating with a continuous 10-year administrative and financial backing from the government, this specialized entity stands as India’s first independent research body built to combine engineering data with rigorous macroeconomic insight. The center's primary mandate involves analyzing nationwide freight corridors, refining state-level highway asset monetization frameworks, designing smart toll modeling mechanisms, and streamlining intermodal economic integrations to support the National Logistics Policy.</p><p data-path-to-node="6">By leveraging NCAER's economic data analytics alongside NHAI's extensive geospatial and highway transit infrastructure datasets, the new institution aims to map out highly accurate predictive traffic indicators and supply chain disruption models. Speaking at the signing ceremony, senior officials noted that providing policymakers with evidence-based research is vital for cutting down the overall cost of domestic logistics—which currently impacts India's export competitiveness. The center is also tasked with outlining advanced infrastructure funding solutions and studying the socio-economic impacts of modern expressways on manufacturing clusters, serving as a core component of India's long-term economic strategy toward the country's development targets.</p>