With KAI in charge of the Indonesian consortium, PT Pilar Sinergi BUMN Indonesia (PSBI), the government is also planning a state capital injection to relieve the railway operator of financial pressure.
With the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway project drawing closer to completion, the government wants to put state-owned PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) in charge of a consortium of four state-owned enterprises (SOE) that holds the majority stake in the Indonesian-Chinese project.
Deputy SOE Minister Kartiko Wirjoatmodjo said the shift was hoped to solve many problems surrounding the project, from a lack of funds to operational issues, as construction was more than 74 percent complete.
With KAI in charge of the Indonesian consortium, PT Pilar Sinergi BUMN Indonesia (PSBI), the government is also planning a state capital injection to relieve the railway operator of financial pressure.
“We are planning to make KAI the leader of the consortium [PSBI]. We are devising a new presidential regulation for KAI to become the main player, to solve [the remaining problems] and to operate the high-speed trains,” Kartiko told lawmakers during a meeting at the House of Representatives on Thursday.
Read also: Accelerating the $6.07b Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway project
State-owned construction company PT Wijaya Karya (WIKA), with a stake of 38 percent in PSBI, has been leading the consortium so far, followed by KAI and state-owned plantation company PTPN VIII with 25 percent each and state-owned toll road company PT Jasa Marga holding 12 percent.
PSBI holds 60 percent of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway project, while China Railway International holds 40 percent. The railway service is meant to cut travel time between Jakarta and the West Java capital of Bandung to 45 minutes from currently around three hours.
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