The question is no longer whether the relocation can be done, but whether it still should be.

When former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo launched the project in 2019, he cast it as a grand vision to rebalance the nation’s growth away from Java and toward a more sustainable future.

Yet six years later, the new capital remains a vast construction site with only 60 percent of its basic infrastructure complete.

The Rp 30 trillion (US$1.8 billion) promised from private investment has barely materialized, with less than a fifth realized as of late 2025. The rest depends on the goodwill of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and the public purse, both already stretched.

President Prabowo Subianto has signaled a desire to continue Jokowi’s legacy, but his government’s own budget priorities tell a different story.

This year’s funding freeze on the Nusantara project, to make room for other initiatives such as the free nutritious meal program, is a reminder that even visionary projects must bend to fiscal reality.