Bahlil and Airlangga Summoned to Palace, Discuss EV Battery Project

KatadataOTO – The government seems to be serious about boosting the growth of the electric vehicle ecosystem in Indonesia. Recently, a number of ministers were summoned by President Prabowo Subianto.

Several names were present at the palace. Among them were Bahlil Lahadalia, Minister of ESDM (Energy and Mineral Resources).

Also present was Airlangga Hartarto, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs. Both met with Prabowo today, Thursday (22/05).

"Today we will hold a limited meeting to discuss the continuation of the electric car battery project related to LG," said Bahlil, as quoted by Antara.

Photo : Carscoops

He stated that some time ago the government had decided to end its cooperation with LG regarding the EV battery factory project.

Now, LG's position has been replaced by another party, namely Huayou, a manufacturer from China.

"So this is a new partner and it's settled. We just need to report to the President," Bahlil added.

For your information, the Indonesia Grand Package project targets the construction of an EV battery factory with a capacity of 30 GWh.

Along the way, LG has completed the first 10 GWh. This leaves a remaining 20 GWh to be continued by Huayou.

"The total investment is 9.8 billion US dollars (around Rp 160 trillion). The first phase with LG was about 1.2 billion US dollars (around Rp 19.6 trillion)," said Bahlil.

Meanwhile, 8 billion US dollars or Rp 130.6 trillion will be taken over by Huayou. The process is expected to be completed today.

On the other hand, Bahlil revealed that the letter of partnership termination with LG regarding the EV battery factory project has already been drafted.

Separately, Airlangga stated that the limited meeting with President Prabowo was to discuss the downstreaming of EV batteries.

For your information, the government had previously asked LG to withdraw from the electric vehicle battery factory construction project.

This was because the government considered the company to be taking too long in negotiations.

Photo : Courtesy

So, LG's position was immediately replaced by Huayou. They are reportedly going to bring a number of the latest technologies into the country.

Additionally, Huayou has already invested its money in the country in the same field, namely the production of power storage for electric vehicles.

Therefore, this government move is considered appropriate, especially for encouraging the growth of the electric car and motorcycle ecosystem.