JAKARTA:Daya Anagata Nusantara (Danantara) has declared its readiness to intervene in addressing the financial strain facing Indonesia’s Jakarta–Bandung high-speed rail project, Whoosh.
Chief Operating Officer Dony Oskaria said the project remains a priority.
“Of course, we will see this process through,” he told reporters in Jakarta on Friday, 22 August.
Danantara is currently in talks with PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), the majority shareholder in PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia China (KCIC). KAI’s newly appointed president director, Bobby Rasyidin, has previously described the project as a potential “time bomb” due to its heavy financial burden.
KAI posted a net loss of IDR 1.24 trillion in the first half of 2025 from the project—an improvement from IDR 1.81 trillion in the same period a year earlier. Since its October 2023 launch, Whoosh has cut travel time between Jakarta and Bandung to just 45 minutes from three hours, with ridership reaching 2.9 million in the first six months of 2025, up 10% year-on-year.
Despite the operational gains, the US$7.3 billion project remains weighed down by debt. About 75% of funding came via a loan from China Development Bank at an initial 2% interest. Pandemic-related delays and land settlement disputes added US$1.2 billion in costs, requiring additional financing at a higher 3.4% interest rate.
KCIC’s ownership structure consists of PSBI (60%)—a consortium of KAI, Wijaya Karya, Jasa Marga, and Perkebunan Nusantara VIII—and Beijing Yawan HSR (40%), led by China Railway International. In 2024, PSBI booked a net loss of IDR 4.2 trillion, with KAI absorbing more than half.
Bobby told Indonesia’s House of Representatives (DPR) that a comprehensive financial review of KCIC is ongoing, with Danantara expected to play a key role in restructuring the project’s debt.
The rail link was previously lauded during President Prabowo Subianto’s bilateral talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in November 2024. Prabowo has since indicated interest in extending the line to Surabaya. Infrastructure Minister Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono confirmed that the legal framework for the extension is now being prepared.
