Indonesia's EV Motor and Geothermal Policies Criticized for Deepening Resource Dependence

The administration of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto is preparing two major policies that it claims will accelerate the transition to clean energy: mass incentives for electric motorcycles and accelerated development of geothermal mining. However, the Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam) argues that these measures will expand the extractive economic model, benefiting corporations while exacerbating threats to the living spaces of indigenous and local communities from upstream to downstream. In his speech presenting the Draft State Budget (RUU-APBN) for 2027 at the House of Representatives on August 14, 2026, Prabowo stated that the government would provide special incentives for domestic companies capable of producing 1 million electric motorcycles. "We will accelerate the electrification of people's mobility. We must significantly reduce fuel subsidies. The government I lead yesterday launched a national electric motorcycle ecosystem. Furthermore, today we announce that we will provide substantial incentives for those who can build one million electric motorcycles domestically by Indonesian companies," Prabowo said. To realize this, the government has allocated Rp3 trillion from public funds to subsidize the purchase of domestically produced electric motorcycles, at Rp3 million per unit. This budget release comes amidst a swelling of the 2027 draft state budget to Rp4,092.2 trillion – an increase of Rp254.5 trillion from the 2026 state budget – and a projected deficit of Rp671.2 trillion. Midst this budget deficit crisis, Jatam criticizes the government for choosing to pamper the private electric vehicle market and support its industrial supply chain. Conversely, they note a lack of equivalent budgetary support for ecological recovery, protection of communities affected by mining, or the development of decent, safe, affordable, and inclusive public transportation.