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View all search resultsMinister touts local capacity amid light truck import deal
The industry ministry has joined the choir of criticism against Agrinas' procurement deals with Indian carmakers, saying that rather than importing foreign-made pickups, the local automotive industry should be bolstered to optimize capacity so as to reap the many benefits of mobilizing the national supply chain.
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A man walks past a Tata Motors dealership on Jl. Kramat Raya in Central Jakarta on Feb. 18, 2026. (JP/Iqro Rinaldi)
T
he national automotive industry has the capacity to produce pickup trucks domestically, the industry minister has said, in response to a plan by state-owned agriculture company PT Agrinas Pangan Nusantara to import 105,000 vehicles from India to supply the government’s Red and White Rural Cooperatives (KDMP) program.
“If all demand for pickup trucks are met through imports, the economic value added and jobs created will be enjoyed by industries abroad,” Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita said in a statement on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Agrinas announced its partnerships with India’s Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors for a total contract value of Rp 24.66 trillion (US$1.46 billion), among the country’s largest commercial vehicle procurements in recent years.
Tata said in a press release that it would be supplying 70,000 vehicles, while Mahindra said in a separate statement that it would be providing the remaining 35,000. Both companies described their respective orders as the “biggest” ever.
Read also: RI to import 105,000 vehicles from India for Red and White cooperatives
In his Feb. 19 statement, Agus warned that importing a high number of vehicles risked undermine the government’s effort to protect the domestic automotive industry amid mounting global and domestic pressures by urging local companies to keep workforces “stable”.
While the local industry was yet to produce four-wheel drive (4WD) heavy-duty pickups designed for rough terrain, he continued, its two-wheel drive (2WD) light trucks could compete with imports in terms of both quality and standards.
