Ministry of Defence Denies Involvement in the Import of 105,000 Indian Pick-up Trucks
The Ministry of Defence has firmly denied any involvement in the import of 105,000 Indian pick-up trucks, clarifying that their only connection to the vehicles was through a donation.
The donation, consisting of four Mahindra Scorpio units, was made in December 2025 as part of efforts to assist in disaster relief operations in the Sumatra region. The vehicles were handed over to the Ministry of Defence and subsequently distributed to areas affected by natural disasters in North Sumatra, West Sumatra, and Aceh.
“These four vehicles were received from Agrinas through Mahindra, then received by the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Defence, and then distributed to units involved in disaster relief efforts in the Sumatra region,” said Brigadier General TNI Rico Ricardo Sirait, Head of the Defence Information Bureau, on Friday, February 27, 2026.
According to Rico, the vehicles were immediately used by Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) personnel to support the distribution of logistics, medicines, and the mobilisation of personnel in disaster-stricken areas. He also emphasised that the donation was a one-time event and that all units had been distributed.
Outside of this, the Ministry of Defence stated that it has no knowledge of and was not involved in the procurement of the 105,000 Indian pick-up trucks, which has been the subject of recent discussion. The Ministry hopes that this clarification will prevent the public from being influenced by inaccurate information.
“Therefore, it is not true, once again, not true that this procurement is part of the Ministry of Defence; it is not. There will also be a clarification from the Director of Agrinas stating that at the time, it was a donation process given to the Ministry of Defence to be distributed to disaster areas,” said Rico.
Previously, news about the import plan by Agrinas was announced by the Indian automotive company, Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. (M&M), on their company website on February 4, 2026. M&M announced that it would supply 35,000 units of Scorpio pick-up trucks.
On February 20, 2026, the Director of Agrinas Pangan Nusantara, Joao Angelo De Sousa Mota, confirmed to the media that the company would import 105,000 vehicles from the Indian company.
The hundreds of thousands of vehicles consist of 35,000 units of 4x4 pick-up trucks from M&M, 35,000 units of 4x4 pick-up trucks, and 35,000 units of six-wheeled trucks from Tata Motors.