TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - State-owned rolling stock company PT INKA is expanding its capacity to meet growing demand for railway trains in Indonesia which until now still needs imports. Currently, PT Inka could produce only up 200 units of electric train set a year.

"For example, we need more than 1,000 units of electric train set for the the Greater Jakarta area alone - Jakarta, Bogor, Bekasi Depok and Tangerang)," Production Director of PT Inka Bayu Waskito Sudadi said on Friday.

The company, therefore, is building a new factory in Banyuwangi, East Java. The new factory is expected to be operational in the second half of 2020.

"We already bought land and the winner of tender was already announced. The new factory will have production capacity three times larger than the present factory in Madiun," Bayu said.

He said limited capacity of Inka has forced PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), the state railway company, to imports train set from other countries.

"Imported set, are second hand but still good in condition with cheaper prices. Imports are needed to meet requirement in the country," he said.

He said in 2018, PT INKA has a turnover target of Rp3.2 trillion with a net profit of Rp8.7 billion. Realization is already nearing the target.

"The good performance prompted the Ministry of State Companies to set a higher turnover target of Rp3.7 trillion for 2019," Bayu said.

The turnover target for 2018 is 21 percent higher than realization in 2017.

ANTARA