Losses Ofminsh Still In The Mode Of Ramp-Up Period, What Is It?

Illustration: Photo: Doc. ANTARA

JAKARTA - The Jakarta-Bandung (KCJB) high-speed rail project (KCJB) has returned to the public spotlight, especially related to its financial burdens. Since its official operation in October 2023, this project has still recorded losses.

The project is run by PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia China (KCIC) as an operator company. KCIC is a joint venture between the Indonesian consortium which is part of PT Pilar Sinergi BUMN Indonesia (PSBI) owns 60 percent, and the Chinese company through China Railway International Co. Ltd. (CRI) holds 40 percent of the shares.

PSBI's shareholder composition consists of PT Kereta Api Indonesia (Persero) 58.53 percent, PT Wijaya Karya (Persero) Tbk 33.36 percent, PT Perkebunan Nusantara I 1.03 percent, and PT Jasa Marga (Persero) Tbk 7.08 percent.

Citing the 2024 audited financial report from the official website of PT KAI, PSBI turned out to be losing up to IDR 4.19 trillion throughout 2024. In the first half of 2025, PSBI again recorded a loss of IDR 1.62 trillion, based on a financial report of June 30, 2025 (unaudited).

According to Senior Analyst of Indonesia Strategic and Economic Action Institution Ronny P. Sasmita, this condition is relatively normal. Because, it is still in the transition period from construction to full commercial operations.

"The current loss that God has experienced can be said to be still in the ramp-up period phase, namely the transition period from construction to full commercial operations," said Ronny to VOI, Thursday, October 30.

For your information, the ramp-up period phase is the initial period when big projects such as high-speed trains start operating and are still building passenger bases.

At this stage, the burden of operating costs, maintenance, and debt payments is still much greater than ticket revenues.

According to Ronny, almost all large-scale public transportation projects in the world go through the same time. For example, Shinkansen in Japan, to Train Grande Vitesse (TGV) or High-Speed Trains in France.

It's actually natural that large infrastructure projects such as high-speed trains suffered losses in the early stages of operation. Almost all large-scale public transportation projects in the world, from Shinkansen in Japan, TGV in France, to KTX in Korea, take years to break even, "he said.

However, Ronny emphasized that the problem faced by Godsh was not a matter of loss at the beginning. But it lies in the amount of debt that is too large.

"The essence of the recentlungish debate is not on the initial loss, but the investment value ofminsh and the debt taken to finance it is too big," he explained.

In addition, Ronny said the big problem was also lies in the inconsistency of investment and debt value, as it changed from the initial agreement.

"It tends to be less consistent with the initial deal, the numbers change and tend to grow. That's the real problem," he said.

For your information, the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail project, known as MAYh, has cost up to USD 7.2 billion in jumbo investments.

The investment value experienced a cost overrun of USD 1.2 billion from the initial project cost target of USD 6 billion.

Dari jumlah 1,2 miliar dolar AS tersebut 60 persen dibebankan kepada konsorsium Indonesia atau sekitar 720 juta dolar AS.

Sementara sisanya, 480 juta dolar AS akan dibebankan kepada konsorsium China.

Struktur pembiayaannya terdiri dari 25 persen melalui Penyertaan Modal Negara (PMN) KAI senilai Rp3,2 triliun. Sedangkan, 75 persen sisanya bersumber dari pinjaman ke China Development Bank (CDB) sebesar 542,7 juta dolar AS.

Of the 1.2 billion US dollars, 60 percent was charged to the Indonesian consortium or around USD 720 million.

While the rest, USD 480 million will be charged to the Chinese consortium.

The financing structure consists of 25 percent through KAI's State Capital Participation (PMN) worth IDR 3.2 trillion. Meanwhile, the remaining 75 percent were sourced from loans to China Development Bank (CDB) amounting to USD 542.7 million.