The International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) is a 7,200-kilometer multi-modal transportation network that integrates ship, rail, and road routes for moving freight between India, Russia, Iran, Central Asia, and Europe. The concept is an inter-governmental scheme, established by an agreement signed on September 12, 2000, in St. Petersburg by the founding members: India, Russia, and Iran. The primary purpose of the INSTC was to create a shorter, more cost-effective alternative to the traditional maritime route through the Suez Canal. By bypassing the Suez Canal, the INSTC can reduce transit times by up to 40 percent and lower transportation costs by up to 30 percent.
The mechanism of the INSTC involves three main routes: the Central Corridor, the Western Corridor, and the Eastern Corridor. The Central Corridor, for instance, originates at Mumbai's Jawaharlal Nehru Port, proceeds to Iran's Bandar Abbas port, and then traverses Iran and the Caspian Sea to Russia's Astrakhan and Olya ports. The Western Corridor links Azerbaijan's railway to Iran's network, while the Eastern Corridor passes through Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. The INSTC has expanded from its three founders to include 13 members, such as Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine, Belarus, Oman, and Syria, with Bulgaria as an Observer State.
The corridor is a dynamic project, with recent focus on developing its various branches. A significant ongoing development is the completion of the Rasht-Astara railway section in Iran, which is a critical missing link in the Western Corridor. Furthermore, in 2024, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Iran signed an "Eastern Corridor Roadmap" to synchronously develop that route, which is increasingly relevant for India's trade with Central Asia. The INSTC is also related to the Ashgabat Agreement, a multimodal transport agreement signed by India in 2018, which facilitates the transportation of goods between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf.