Plans to Import 105,000 Vehicles from India Threatened National Automotive Industry, Import Cancellation Demanded
Mambang Kusuma, co-ordinator of the Indonesian Muslim Students Action Alliance (KAMMI) movement, has rejected plans by PT Agrinas Pangan Nusantara to import 105,000 motor vehicles from India. The company’s action is regarded as a serious threat to the national automotive industry and demonstrates inconsistency in supporting food security.
Mambang stressed that importing completely built-up (CBU) vehicles from India would only create unhealthy competition for automotive manufacturers who have already made substantial domestic investments.
“The plan to import 105,000 pickup units from India for the Red-White Village Cooperative Programme operations must be halted immediately. Indonesia possesses adequate automotive production capacity. Opening import channels without urgency will only kill innovation and investment in our country,” Mambang stated on Friday (27 February 2026).
Beyond industry concerns, Mambang highlighted the misalignment of PT Agrinas’s business focus. As an entity with a primary mandate in food security, PT Agrinas’s entry into automotive import business is considered irrelevant.
“This step risks blurring the company’s strategic focus. Rather than strengthening food security, reliance on imported products will only widen the trade deficit and pressure the Rupiah exchange rate,” he added.
Mambang also urged that all vehicle procurement for corporate operations prioritise high domestic content levels (TKDN). His group expressed concerns about emission standards, safety, and spare parts availability for vehicles from India if forced into the Indonesian market.
In a position statement, KAMMI Jakarta’s cadre movement demanded that PT Agrinas Pangan Nusantara’s Director General, Joao Angelo De Sousa Mota, immediately cancel the plan to import 105,000 pickup units from India. They called for legal compliance, with the importation process subject to Law No. 7 of 2014 on Trade and Law No. 3 of 2014 on Industry.
KAMMI assessed that the Director General deserves removal from his position if the plan is not immediately cancelled.
“If not cancelled immediately, the Director General of PT Agrinas deserves to be removed! We demand relevant authorities to immediately conduct benefit audits and tighten import quotas to protect employment in the national automotive sector, which absorbs millions of workers,” Mambang concluded.
Amid domestic automotive industry capacity reaching millions of units annually, the plan to import 105,000 four-wheel-drive commercial vehicles from India by PT Agrinas Pangan Nusantara to support the Red-White Village/District Cooperative Programme raises fundamental questions: when domestic production is available and domestic content levels exceed 40 per cent, why is the import option chosen instead?
DPR Commission VII member Gandung Pardiman appreciated the government’s step to postpone the plan to import 105,000 pickups valued at Rp24 trillion.
DPR Commission VI member Darmadi Durianto questioned the import policy for 105,000 vehicles from India.
The Confederation of Indonesian Workers’ Unions (KSPN) responded to the plan to import approximately 105,000 four-wheel-drive commercial pickup and truck units to support the Red-White Village Cooperative Programme’s operational needs.