GE Lokindo making 2 locomotives a month

MADIUN, East Java (JP): PT GE Lokomotif Indonesia (Lokindo), an Indonesia-U.S. locomotive maker, is making two locomotives a month to meet a delivery order of 10 to state-owned railway firm Perumka in August.

Lokindo is a joint venture company owned by U.S. General Electric, PT General Electric Teknologi Indonesia, a subsidiary of General Electric, and state-owned railway equipment manufacturer PT Industri Kereta Api (Inka).

Inka's president Istantoro said here yesterday each locomotive would have up to 40 percent local content.

Company manager, Purwanto, said some of the electronics and other locomotive parts were supplied by state-owned PT LEN and PT Pindad.

Inka, LEN and Pindad are under the supervision of the Management Board of Strategic Industries (BPIS) headed by State Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie.

Istantoro said that since last year, Lokindo had produced and delivered 16 locomotives, 15 for Perumka and one for a private firm in the Philippines.

Lokindo was set up last year with a paid-up capital of US$8 million. It is in Inka's industrial complex in Madiun.

"When Lokindo was set up, a study revealed that Perumka needed 15 new locomotives a year. The figure could be 25 now," Istantoro said.

He said Lokindo would likely make its first profit by the 1998/1999 fiscal year.

He refused to give financial details.

"Lokindo is very competitive," he said, adding that similar locomotives, with a speed of 120 kilometers an hour, cost between $2 million and $3 million.

He said Inka would gain several advantages through the cooperation with General Electric. "We are able to make locomotives with American quality but at a lower price."

President of General Electric Indonesia, Stuart L. Dean, said General Electric would bring its management skills to Indonesia.

General Electric has several subsidiaries in Indonesia, including General Electric Teknologi Indonesia, which was set up in June 1992 with BPIS, PT GE Astra Finance, PT GE Nusantara Turbine Services and PT Paiton Energy Company.

PT GE Lighting Indonesia, a lamp manufacturer in Surabaya, East Java, is the most recent joint venture firm in Indonesia. (icn)