Indonesia launched U$6b EV battery ecosystem project in West Java, North Maluku

Indonesia has officially launched an electric vehicle (EV) battery ecosystem project with an investment value of US$6 billion, or about Rp100 trillion. Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Minister Bahlil Lahadalia, explained that the US$1.2 billion investment in EV battery ecosystem is towards Karawang Regency, West Java Province. Meanwhile, the remaining US$4.7 billion is directed to East Halmahera Regency, North Maluku Province.

"Overall, investments for those factories are about US$5.9–6 billion, or around Rp 100 trillion," the minister said at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Integrated EV Battery Industry Ecosystem Project in the Artha Industrial Hills (AIH) area in Karawang Regency, West Java on June 29, 2025.

The ceremony for the project by state-owned enterprise (SOE) PT Mineral Industri Indonesia (MIND ID) subsidiaries PT Aneka Pertambangan (Antam) and PT Industri Baterai Indonesia (IBC), as well as battery multinational Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) subsidiary Ningbo Contemporary Brunp Lygend (CBL) consortium was overseen by President Prabowo Subianto.

Bahlil stated that the EV battery megaproject has directly employed 8,000 workers, and it could also indirectly create jobs for as many as 35,000 people. Moreover, the project has a multiplier effect that will impact national economic growth, which Bahlil estimated would result in US$40 billion of revenue per year for Indonesia.

"As the price rises every year, it (the multiplier effect) increases again," Bahlil said.

Six projects are being developed as part of the overall EV industry project, namely five at the FHT Industrial Park in East Halmahera Regency and one in Karawang Regency. The 43 hectares (ha) EV battery factory in Karawang sits is operated by PT Contemporary Amperex Technology Indonesia Battery (CATIB), a joint venture between IBC and CBL. It is targeted to have an initial capacity of 6.9 gigawatt-hour (GWh) in the first phase, increasing to 15 GWh in the second phase, and start commercial operations by late 2026.

Meanwhile, Antam and CBL subsidiary Hong Kong CBL (HK CBL) have established PT Feni Haltim (PT FHT) to develop a new energy industrial area in North Maluku consisting of a nickel mining project and a pyrometallurgical smelter with a targeted capacity of 88,000 tons of refined nickel alloy per year by 2027.

In addition, the North Maluku project also targets a hydrometallurgical smelter producing 55,000 tons of mixed metal hydroxide precipitates (MHP) per year by 2028, a cathode material plant producing 30,000 tons of lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxides (NCM) per year by 2028, and a battery recycling facility producing 20,000 tons of metal sulfate and lithium carbonate per year by 2031.

President Prabowo Subianto oversaw the groundbreaking for the construction of the Integrated EV Battery Industry Ecosystem project of the ANTAM-IBC-CBL Consortium in the Artha Industrial Hills (AIH) area, in Karawang, West Java, Sunday (29/6/2025).