Addin Anugrah Siwi, Jakarta – The Defense Ministry has denied claims that it is backing or facilitating a plan to import 105,000 vehicles from India, saying the ministry's only involvement with Indian-made pickups was the receipt of a small number of donated vehicles for disaster relief.

Defense Ministry spokesperson Rico Ricardo Sirait said reports linking the ministry to the proposed large-scale import for the Merah Putih Village Cooperative were false.

"It is not true that this is part of any facilitation by the Defense Ministry. There is no such involvement," Rico said on Wednesday.

The clarification follows public speculation that the ministry was behind a plan to import 105,000 pickup trucks from India. Rico said the confusion stemmed from reports about Mahindra & Mahindra vehicles previously linked to the ministry.

He confirmed that the Defense Ministry did receive Mahindra Scorpio pickup trucks, but stressed that the number was limited to four units and that the vehicles were donated, not procured.

"These four Mahindra Scorpio vehicles were donated to the Defense Ministry to support disaster response for floods and landslides in Sumatra," Rico said.

The vehicles were received in December 2025 through state-owned Agrinas Pangan Nusantara and Mahindra, before being handed over by the ministry's secretariat to Indonesian military units deployed for disaster relief operations. Agrinas oversees the Merah Putih Village Cooperative program, which includes plans to import 105,000 pickup trucks from Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors.

Rico said the pickups were immediately dispatched to affected areas, including Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra, to support logistics distribution, medical aid delivery and personnel mobility.

"After being received, the vehicles were passed on to military units involved in disaster mitigation in Sumatra," he said, adding that their use was strictly humanitarian.

He emphasized that the donated vehicles had no connection to the Merah Putih Village Cooperative or any commercial program.

The controversy emerged after Mahindra announced plans to supply 35,000 pickup trucks to Indonesia. The issue escalated when Agrinas Pangan Nusantara confirmed discussions over a broader plan to import a total of 105,000 vehicles from India.

The proposed imports include 35,000 four-wheel-drive pickup trucks from Mahindra, 35,000 four-wheel-drive pickups from Tata Motors, and 35,000 six-wheel trucks from Tata Motors, intended to support the operations of the Merah Putih Village Cooperative network.

Rico said the Defense Ministry has no role in the planning, procurement or facilitation of the proposed imports.

"There is no procurement, no support and no involvement by the Defense Ministry in that import plan," he said.

He added that Agrinas Pangan Nusantara is expected to issue a separate clarification to explain that the Mahindra vehicles previously associated with the ministry were part of a donation process for disaster response in Sumatra late last year.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/defense-ministry-denies-role-in-plan-to-import-105000-indian-vehicle