GE Lokindo making 2 locomotives a month
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)