Dasco Requests Postponement of Car Imports for Merah Putih Cooperatives
Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Sufmi Dasco Ahmad has asked the government to suspend plans to import 105,000 vehicles from India to support the logistics operations of the Merah Putih Village Cooperatives. The Gerindra Party daily chairman argued that the plan requires further review with President Prabowo Subianto, who is currently on a state visit to the United States.
“I have conveyed a message to the government that the plan should be postponed given that the President is still abroad,” Dasco said at the House of Representatives complex in Jakarta on Monday, 23 February 2026.
He recommended that the technical details of the pickup truck import plan from India be discussed comprehensively with President Prabowo. Dasco expressed confidence that the Gerindra Party chairman would discuss the import plan whilst taking into account the condition of the domestic automotive industry.
“The President will certainly seek opinions and calculate the readiness of domestic companies,” Dasco said.
The government plans to bring in 105,000 pickup trucks from India at an estimated value of Rp 24.66 trillion. The president director of PT Agrinas Pangan Nusantara — the state-owned enterprise appointed to accelerate the operations of the Merah Putih Village Cooperatives — Joao Angelo De Sousa Mota confirmed the vehicle procurement plan for both the Merah Putih Village Cooperatives and the Merah Putih Sub-district Cooperatives. He confirmed that fully assembled units have already arrived in Indonesia, though he did not disclose the quantity.
The vehicles will be used for Merah Putih Village Cooperative operations across 85,000 villages. Through Agrinas Pangan Nusantara, the government is targeting the construction of 30,000 Merah Putih Village Cooperative buildings by mid-2026.
House Commission VI member Rachmat Gobel criticised the Indian car import plan, arguing it potentially contradicts the government’s priority agenda, particularly job creation and strengthening national industry.
“This plan for mass car imports using state-owned enterprise funds does not support Astacita at all — it in fact violates Astacita by squandering state funds to finance foreign workers and another country’s industry,” Rachmat said.
He stressed that fiscal policy and the role of state-owned enterprises should serve as instruments to drive domestic industry and absorb the workforce, especially vocational education graduates who are widely employed in the automotive sector. Rachmat also emphasised that Indonesia’s automotive industry has developed an extensive production and service network, with steadily increasing local content levels.