Indonesia To Offer $5,000 Subsidy On Electric Car Sales

Indonesia's government plans to offer a subsidy of more than $5,000 on every sale of an electric car, a minister said on Wednesday.

It will also offer incentives to encourage purchases of electric motorbikes as well as hybrid cars, Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita said, as part of plans to reduce carbon emissions in Southeast Asia's largest economy.

The incentives will offered to buyers of EVs produced by firms with factories in Indonesia, he said in a video statement.

A subsidy of around 80 million rupiah ($5,131) will be offered on every sale of an electric car, 40 million rupiah on hybrid cars and 8 million rupiah on fully electric motorbikes, the minister said.

The government will also cover 5 million rupiah of the cost to convert a combustion engine motorbike into an electric one, he added.

He did not provide a timeline for when the scheme will be implemented nor the total budget it will require.

Senior Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said previously that the program may start next year.

Indonesia has a target of at least 1.2 million electric bikes and 35,000 electric vehicles in use by 2024.

($1 = 15,590.0000 rupiah)

(Reporting by Stefanno Sulaiman; editing by Jason Neely)