How do I start a logistics or transport company in India?
Decide which business you mean, because the cost of entry differs sharply: owning trucks (a transport company), arranging loads and warehousing on other people's assets (a 3PL that owns no fleet), or a courier franchise. No transport company licence exists: each goods vehicle needs a yellow-plate registration, fitness, insurance and a state permit or a National Permit (about Rs 16,500 a year), and you need a transporter ID for e-way bills. GST changed on 22 September 2025: a goods transport agency charges 5% without input credit or 18% with it, and the old 12% option is gone. A heavy truck costs roughly Rs 38 lakh to Rs 46 lakh on the road, and one empty return trip can wipe out a month's surplus, so return loads are the business. An asset-light start, brokering loads or taking a courier franchise, costs far less while you learn the lanes. What kills most transport businesses is empty running and customers who pay late.
A July 2026 guide for anyone starting a goods transport business: there is no transport company licence, only a permit per vehicle (the National Permit is about Rs 16,500 a year), and the GST choice is now 5% without credit or 18% with it.
A worked 2026 model of owning heavy trucks: a truck costs roughly Rs 38 to 46 lakh on the road, diesel is half of total cost, and a single empty return leg costs about Rs 66,000, a whole month of surplus. Shows why owner-drivers survive where hired-driver fleets struggle.
An August 2026 guide to the asset-light logistics business (a 3PL that owns no fleet): GST registration in each state of operation, common carrier registration, transporter ID for e-way bills, and the fact that the 12% GST option for transport agencies ended on 22 September 2025.
A July 2026 guide to the asset-light way into logistics, a courier franchise: no courier licence exists, courier services carry 18% GST (not the 5% transport rate), and commission income is barred from the presumptive tax scheme.
The government portal where goods movements above the threshold are documented with e-way bills and where transporters enrol for a transporter ID. Every transport business uses it daily.
MoRTH's own portal for the National Permit for goods carriages, where a transporter pays the National Permit authorisation fee online for each vehicle that runs across states.
