Ministry of Defence Denies Backing Import of Pick-up Trucks from India for Merah Putih Village/Urban Cooperatives

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The Ministry of Defence has denied backing the import of 105,000 pick-up trucks from India for the operational needs of the Merah Putih Village/Urban Cooperatives.

This was stated by the Head of the Defence Information Bureau of the Ministry of Defence, Brigadier General TNI Rico Ricardo Sirait, in response to the issue of a donation of four Mahindra Scorpio vehicles produced by Mahindra & Mahindra from PT Agrinas Pangan Nusantara to the Ministry of Defence.

“So it is not true, once again, it is not true that this is part of the Ministry of Defence facilitating and so on, that is not the case,” said Rico when met in Menteng, Central Jakarta, Wednesday (25/2/2026).

“So these four vehicles, after being received from Agrinas through Mahindra, were received by the Secretary-General (of the Ministry of Defence),” he said.

After being received, the four vehicles were immediately distributed to military units tasked with handling disasters in North Sumatra, West Sumatra, and Aceh.

“During the month of December until now, they have been used by the military involved in the distribution of logistics, medicines, and for the movement of people. That is what the Mahindra Scorpio vehicles are used for,” said Rico.

“No wonder the plan to import 105,000 units of Mahindra Scorpio pick-up trucks from India, worth Rp 24.66 trillion, could proceed smoothly. It turns out that behind PT Agrinas Pangan Nusantara, there is strong backing from the Ministry of Defence,” said the narrator in the Instagram post.

The account also reported that as many as 35,000 units of Mahindra Scorpio pick-up trucks have been parked in the area of Tanjung Priok Port, North Jakarta.

KOMPAS.com is committed to providing clear, trustworthy, and balanced facts. Support the sustainability of clear journalism and enjoy comfortable reading without advertisements through Membership. Join KOMPAS.com Plus now.