From Bricks To Bananas: Delhi's Cargo Trucks Tell A Tale Of Own

Time of India

30-07-2025

New Delhi: At least 24,000 freight vehicles enter Delhi, carrying everything from cement to cabbages. Beyond the traffic and noise, this steady stream of trucks tells a deeper story about the national capital's economic priorities, consumption patterns and supply dependencies.
According to Delhi govt's draft Logistics and Warehousing Policy 2025, the largest share of these vehicles — 4,132 daily — are loaded with building materials, pointing to the city's construction boom. Real estate expansion, metro projects, road development and commercial infrastructure are fuelling a sustained demand for bricks, cement and steel, said a senior govt official.
Close behind is the textile sector, with 3,995 vehicles daily.
Markets like Chandni Chowk and Gandhi Nagar, as well as garment export hubs, drive this figure, the official said, adding it suggests not just local consumption, but also Delhi's role as a redistribution centre for clothing and fabric across north India.
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Fruits and vegetables, marked by 2,569 vehicles per day, and food products/edibles (2,458 vehicles) together account for over 20% of daily freight movement. These numbers reflect Delhi's sheer scale as a consumption city feeding a population of over 20 million.
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On the industrial front, sectors like plastic products (2,119 vehicles) and machinery (1,880 vehicles) show robust movement, indicating Delhi's dependency on finished goods for its large trading base. The electronics segment (1,457 vehicles) is positioned in seventh place, showing the city's growing appetite for consumer gadgets and appliances.
Smaller yet significant numbers are seen in pharmaceutical and medicine shipments (549 vehicles) and automobiles (588).
While low in volume, these are high-value and often tightly regulated goods, which explains the more modest numbers.
Metal industry goods, entering in 802 vehicles daily, likely support both construction and manufacturing sectors. The dominance of finished goods — textiles, edibles, electronics — suggests Delhi is more of a trading and service powerhouse than a production centre, said another official.
The automobile sector is ranked 11th, with 588 vehicles entering daily.
Officials said automobiles are high-value, low-volume goods. A single truck might carry only a handful of cars or two-wheelers, unlike a truck full of textiles or vegetables. So even a few hundred vehicles can represent significant economic value, he said. Delhi isn't a major auto manufacturing centre like Gurgaon, and incoming vehicles are mostly for retail sale to dealerships, showrooms or customers in the city and surrounding areas, he said.
Delhi govt will soon launch 'Logistics and Warehousing Policy 2025', with the draft outlining measures to decongest the city, reduce pollution and improve trade efficiency. Industries minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said govt is exploring dedicated logistics hubs, green freight corridors and technology-driven solutions to ease traffic, lower emissions and boost ease of business.
Currently, Delhi handles 10 lakh tonnes of freight daily through nearly 2 lakh vehicles, 21% of which is pass-through traffic. Without proper warehousing zones, these vehicles enter city interiors, clogging major routes and worsening pollution, said Sirsa. He said the draft policy proposes to relocate warehouses to the city's periphery, consolidating freight at modern urban consolidation and logistics distribution centres, and shifting last-mile deliveries to electric and CNG vehicles.
These measures are expected to cut vehicular emissions and reduce congestion at hotspots like Azadpur, Ghazipur, and Karol Bagh, delivering a significant win for air quality.