Dasco Urges Government to Postpone Import of 105,000 Pickup Trucks from India

Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR RI) Sufmi Dasco Ahmad has responded to the contentious plan to import pickup trucks from India for the operational needs of Koperasi Merah Putih. Dasco has urged the government to postpone the plan.

“Regarding the plan to import 105,000 pickup trucks from India, I have already conveyed a message to the government to postpone it, considering the President is still abroad,” said Dasco at the Parliamentary Complex in Senayan, Jakarta, on Monday (23/2/2026).

Dasco expressed hope that President Prabowo would discuss the details of the plan upon his return from his overseas working visit. He confirmed he had already asked the government to delay the import plan.

“Naturally, when the President returns, he will discuss the details of the import. And of course, the President will also seek opinions and calculate the readiness of domestic companies,” said Dasco.

“Therefore, we have already conveyed the message to postpone it for now,” added the Daily Chairman of the Gerindra Party’s central executive board.

President Director of PT Agrinas Pangan Nusantara, Joao Angelo De Sousa Mota, has stated that the hundreds of thousands of pickup trucks would be used for the Koperasi Desa (Kopdes) Merah Putih village cooperative programme.

Joao explained that the decision to import pickup trucks from India was made because domestic production could not yet meet the procurement requirements.

“The first reason is that local production has only been around 70,000 units, so if we were to source everything locally, it would disrupt other logistics industries. Therefore, to maintain harmony, we are opening up space to give people choices and alternatives, so that we can obtain vehicles at a fair price,” said Joao in Jakarta on Friday (20/2).