Indonesia Targets New Data Centre Investments Worth US$15-20 Billion
The Indonesian government is preparing to receive a surge of new investment in the digital infrastructure sector through the construction of data centres with a capacity of 1.3 gigawatts (GW). This massive expansion plan is projected to be worth between US$15 billion and US$20 billion, equivalent to Rp 270 trillion to Rp 360 trillion.
Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, confirmed that the current built data centre capacity in the country has only reached 580 megawatts (MW). The additional new capacity of 1.3 GW is now in an advanced planning stage and will largely be concentrated in the Batam area.
“The existing 580 MW is perhaps equivalent to US$1 million per MW. Then, the additional roughly 1.3 GW, which is now in Batam, also involves an investment of around US$15-20 billion that is already in the pipeline,” Airlangga said in Central Jakarta on Friday.
This strategic project has attracted interest from several global technology giants, including Nvidia, which is confirmed to be partnering with an Australian company to invest. In addition, domestic corporations such as state-owned PT Telkom Indonesia (Persero) Tbk, along with other major technology companies, are also preparing to expand their data centres in the Karawang area to support artificial intelligence (AI)-based quantum computing.
“One of the companies is Nvidia working with Australia, then there is a direct investment by Telkom itself. Then in Karawang, almost all big tech companies will develop their data centre expansion. Because this is now very key for AI that relies on quantum computing,” Airlangga explained.
To balance this technological leap in the upstream digital sector, the government is also forming a strategic partnership with British semiconductor company Arm Ltd to strengthen local human resource capacity. The primary target of this collaboration is to produce tens of thousands of domestic experts who can be directly absorbed into the global technology ecosystem network.
“It is hoped that from this upstream, we can then move downstream, but the key to all of this is human resources. So the President’s directive is a target of 15,000 Indonesian engineers and workers to enter the Arm ecosystem,” Airlangga stated.
In addition to data centre construction, Indonesia’s international connectivity will also be strengthened through a global internet network interconnection linking Batam with neighbouring countries and the United States. The government has scheduled the inauguration of this new submarine fibre optic cable infrastructure for the end of July.
“Later, on the 20th, we will also inaugurate the additional landing of the fibre optic cable from Batam to Singapore. We have two landing cables, one to Singapore and then to the global network. Then the second one goes to America via Bitung, via North Sulawesi,” Airlangga concluded.