Jakarta. Indonesia will begin importing lithium from Australia to support its growing electric vehicle (EV) industry, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia announced on Tuesday, as the country intensifies efforts to become a regional EV manufacturing hub.

Speaking at the International Battery Summit in Jakarta, Bahlil said the plan aligns with Indonesia’s roadmap for EV development, first introduced in 2020 under President Joko Widodo’s administration.

“Our vision to build an EV battery ecosystem is part of a broader mineral downstream industrialization strategy that we’ve pursued since 2020,” Bahlil said.

Indonesia is home to abundant reserves of nickel and manganese -- key raw materials for battery production -- but has limited domestic lithium supplies, prompting the government to look abroad. While Indonesia has previously imported lithium from African countries, Bahlil noted that sourcing it from Australia would be more cost-effective due to reduced shipping distances.

“The import mechanism will be business-to-business, and the volume will be determined by Indonesian companies,” he added.

The move comes as Indonesia’s EV adoption gathers pace. The country’s EV fleet surged to approximately 207,000 units in 2024, up from 116,000 the previous year. In the first half of 2025 alone, EVs accounted for about 10 percent of all new car sales -- double the 5 percent market share recorded in 2024.

Indonesia aims to produce 9 million electric motorcycles and 600,000 electric cars and buses by 2030. This target is expected to cut fossil fuel consumption by 21.65 million barrels and reduce carbon emissions by 7.9 million tons.

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