Government Continues to Push for Coal Downstreaming

Jakarta — CNBC Indonesia reports that the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) continues to push for the implementation of a programme to downstream coal into dimethyl ether (DME). To encourage the realisation of the project intended to substitute Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), the government has formed the Downstreaming Task Force.

Secretary of the Directorate General of Minerals and Coal (Sesditjen Minerba), Siti Sumilah Rita Susilawati, said that one reason for adjusting production in the 2026 Work Plan and Budget (RKAB) is to ensure supplies to smelters can be met, including coal.

The government is currently pursuing coal downstreaming to be realised. “Coal is still a work in progress because nothing has run optimally. The government is striving for smooth coal downstreaming, one of the measures being the Downstreaming Task Force,” Rita said at the CNBC Indonesia Mining Forum, ‘What’s Up with Indonesia’s Mining Industry?’, on Friday 6 March 2026.

The administration of President Prabowo Subianto has 18 downstreaming projects with an investment value of US$38.63 billion, or Rp618.13 trillion. The largest investments will be in a coal-to-DME industrial project and an oil refinery project.

Earlier, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia, who is also the Chairman of the Downstreaming and National Energy Resilience Task Force, revealed that of the 18 projects, eight are downstreaming projects in the minerals and coal sector, two relate to energy transition, two concern energy resilience, three pertain to agricultural downstreaming, and three pertain to maritime and fisheries downstreaming.