Royalty Increase Postponed, Bahlil Discusses Mining Profit-Sharing Scheme
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - The Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), Bahlil Lahadalia, has decided to suspend plans to increase mineral royalty rates starting from copper, gold, silver, nickel, to tin. This is because the proposed royalty rate increase is still at the public consultation stage.
Bahlil acknowledged that in recent days, his office had indeed conducted exercises and socialisation regarding the planned royalty rate changes. This was done to gather input from business actors before official regulations are issued.
“And after hearing input from the public and business colleagues, I received input, so I think I will put this on hold to build a good formulation that is mutually beneficial. The state benefits and the businesses must also benefit,” said Bahlil when met at the Ministry of ESDM a few days ago (13/5/2026).
Mining Profit-Sharing Scheme
Amid the postponement of the royalty increase, the government is also examining changes to the management pattern of the mining sector with a profit-sharing scheme similar to the oil and gas (migas) sector.
According to Bahlil, the review stems from the mandate of Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution, which states that natural resources are controlled by the state and used to the greatest extent for the prosperity of the people.
“Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution states that all wealth in the Indonesian earth’s content, both on land, sea, and all other space, is controlled by the state and used to the greatest extent for the prosperity of the people. That means these assets are state assets,” said Bahlil.
He then emphasised that mining companies are essentially only granted permission to manage these resources. Therefore, the government is now seeking the best formulation to ensure that the distribution of benefits between the state and business actors remains balanced.
“Businesses are only given permission to manage it. Regarding the scheme, the government will certainly look for what is win-win. What is the win-win? Good for the state, good for the private sector. And that hasn’t been finalised in my exercise yet,” he said.
The Director General of Minerals and Coal (Dirjen Minerba) of the Ministry of ESDM, Tri Winarno, confirmed that the government is still reviewing the discourse on implementing a gross split or cost recovery system in the mining sector. To date, the preparation of these regulations is still ongoing internally within the government.
“Still in process, still in process,” he said when met at the BUMN Supervisory Board Office, Jakarta, on Tuesday (12/5/2026).
Although the oil and gas scheme plan has begun to emerge publicly, the government has not provided a definite timeline for when the regulation will be officially implemented. Tri emphasised that every new policy requires a comprehensive evaluation process before it is signed by the authorities.
“Well, it’s still in process,” said Tri when asked about the target date for officialising the new regulation.