(Jakarta, 1st) To quell strong backlash from political and business circles, the Indonesian government has announced a suspension of its plan to order 105,000 pickups and trucks from Indian car companies.
Indonesian Cooperative Minister Ferry confirmed during an interview with a local TV station on Thursday (Feb 26) evening that the government has decided to halt importing trucks from India’s Tata Motors and Mahindra. He said this was “the right step to avoid further controversy.”
The original plan involved purchasing about 70,000 pickup trucks and 35,000 six-wheeled trucks, to be distributed to over 80,000 community cooperatives nationwide, in order to help revitalize rural economies. However, after news broke, Indonesia’s business community collectively resisted the move, arguing that large-scale imports of ready-made vehicles ran counter to the government’s goals of promoting industrialization and creating jobs.
There was opposition within the cabinet as well. Industrial Minister Agus recently pointed out that Indonesia has the capability to produce pickup trucks domestically, and if 70,000 pickups were produced locally, it could bring about 27 trillion rupiah (approx MYR 6.15 billion) worth of benefits to the domestic economy, including job creation.
Deputy Speaker of Parliament Dasco had also earlier requested that the government postpone importing the Indian trucks until President Prabowo returns from his overseas visit on Friday (27th) to reconsider the matter.
The state-owned agricultural and construction consulting firm Agrinas Pangan Nusantara is responsible for procuring the trucks. According to the "Indonesia Business Daily," Agrinas has already paid a 30% deposit for these vehicles. Based on a total value of 24.66 trillion rupiah for 105,000 vehicles, the amount already paid down is 7.39 trillion rupiah.
Ferry said the truck procurement is to promote the Prabowo administration’s “Red and White Village Cooperative” initiative. The core objective of this project is to shorten the distribution chain of goods through cooperatives, thereby improving basic commodity supply nationwide—especially to help disadvantaged groups purchase essential goods at affordable prices.
The original plan involved purchasing about 70,000 pickup trucks and 35,000 six-wheeled trucks, to be distributed to over 80,000 community cooperatives nationwide, in order to help revitalize rural economies. However, after news broke, Indonesia’s business community collectively resisted the move, arguing that large-scale imports of ready-made vehicles ran counter to the government’s goals of promoting industrialization and creating jobs.
There was opposition within the cabinet as well. Industrial Minister Agus recently pointed out that Indonesia has the capability to produce pickup trucks domestically, and if 70,000 pickups were produced locally, it could bring about 27 trillion rupiah (approx MYR 6.15 billion) worth of benefits to the domestic economy, including job creation.
Deputy Speaker of Parliament Dasco had also earlier requested that the government postpone importing the Indian trucks until President Prabowo returns from his overseas visit on Friday (27th) to reconsider the matter.
The state-owned agricultural and construction consulting firm Agrinas Pangan Nusantara is responsible for procuring the trucks. According to the "Indonesia Business Daily," Agrinas has already paid a 30% deposit for these vehicles. Based on a total value of 24.66 trillion rupiah for 105,000 vehicles, the amount already paid down is 7.39 trillion rupiah.
Ferry said the truck procurement is to promote the Prabowo administration’s “Red and White Village Cooperative” initiative. The core objective of this project is to shorten the distribution chain of goods through cooperatives, thereby improving basic commodity supply nationwide—especially to help disadvantaged groups purchase essential goods at affordable prices.