India’s freight sector could witness a nearly 400 per cent surge in carbon dioxide emissions by 2047 if corrective measures are not undertaken, according to a new whitepaper released by Smart Freight Centre (SFC) India in collaboration with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM-Bangalore).
The report, titled Institutionalising Freight Emissions Accounting in India: Pathways for Clean Freight Programs and Policy Integration, calls for a nationally harmonised freight emissions accounting framework aligned with ISO 14083 and the Global Logistics Emissions Council (GLEC) Framework.
Released at a high-level convening in New Delhi, the whitepaper positions emissions measurement as the foundation of decarbonisation in one of India’s fastest-growing and most fragmented sectors.
“You cannot decarbonise what you cannot measure,” said Deepali Thakur, Principal — Technical, SFC India, emphasising the need for standardised methodologies and India-specific emission factors to make freight emissions accounting actionable at scale.
Measurement Gaps Hindering Decarbonisation
Freight transport contributes a significant share of India’s transport-related emissions, with road freight dominating the modal mix. Rapid economic growth, infrastructure expansion, rising consumption and the growth of e-commerce are expected to sharply increase freight demand in the coming decades.
However, the whitepaper notes that emissions measurement practices remain fragmented. Companies currently use varied methodologies, emission factors and reporting boundaries, limiting comparability and weakening corporate disclosures as well as policymaking.
Sanjay Seth, Senior Director, Sustainable Infrastructure Programme at TERI, underscored the importance of institutionalising emissions accounting for both domestic decarbonisation and global market alignment.
“Measuring freight emissions is the critical first step. Institutionalising freight emissions accounting in India, aligned with global clean freight programs, can support emissions reduction, provide a credible foundation for effective decarbonisation and enable participation in emerging compliance and carbon-market mechanisms,” he said.
Integration with National Logistics Agenda
Officials from the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry highlighted the need to embed emissions accounting within India’s broader logistics reforms, including the National Logistics Policy and PM Gati Shakti.
“Going ahead, freight emissions accounting will need to be integrated with other pillars of logistics infrastructure, supporting efficiency, competitiveness and sustainability together,” said Sagar Kadu, Director (Logistics), DPIIT.
The Commission for Air Quality Management also pointed out that freight transport is a major contributor to local pollutants such as NOx, SOx, particulate matter and black carbon, particularly around logistics hubs and freight corridors. Targeted interventions in pollution hotspots like Delhi-NCR could serve as scalable models for other regions.
Supporting Tools and Initiatives Launched
Alongside the whitepaper, several complementary initiatives were unveiled to operationalise the proposed framework:
India-specific electric vehicle emission factors developed by IIM-Bangalore and SFC
Demonstrations of a Transportation Emissions Measurement Tool to enable transparent reporting
Release of TERI’s Clean Freight Program Baseline Study (Phase II)
The authors noted that these tools are designed to enhance India’s readiness for future disclosure requirements, including Scope 3 emissions reporting, and to strengthen supply-chain transparency amid tightening global carbon accountability norms.
Challenges in a Fragmented Sector
The report acknowledges significant implementation challenges, given that India’s freight sector is highly fragmented and dominated by small and medium fleet operators, many of whom lack digital infrastructure and standardised data systems.
Capacity building, phased adoption, digital integration and cross-ministerial coordination will be critical to ensure inclusive compliance without imposing undue burdens on smaller players.
Aditya Gupta, Chief Operations Officer at the TCI-Supply Chain Sustainability Lab and Supply Chain Management Centre, IIM-Bangalore, said data-driven frameworks can enable proportionate and effective policy design, focusing on fleet modernisation, cleaner technologies and zero-emission freight solutions where they deliver the greatest impact.
Backbone of Clean Freight Transition
The whitepaper argues that credible emissions accounting is not merely a reporting exercise but the backbone of clean freight programmes, performance benchmarking, incentive design and future carbon-market participation.
As India progresses toward its 2070 Net Zero target, freight decarbonisation is emerging as a critical frontier. With demand projected to multiply alongside economic growth, the report warns that the window to embed climate accountability within logistics systems is narrowing.
By proposing a nationally harmonised, globally aligned and India-adapted emissions accounting architecture, the SFC–TERI initiative seeks to ensure that India’s logistics expansion is matched by a credible pathway toward low- and zero-emission freight transport.
