Jakarta. Sovereign wealth fund Danantara recently revealed that the land tender winner for Indonesia’s Hajj village project would be announced in the coming weeks, as Jakarta goes up against a Saudi entity in the final round.

President Prabowo Subianto wants to build a compound in Mecca to accommodate the millions of Indonesian Muslims who fly to the sacred place each year. The project has begun to take shape after Danantara acquired an existing hotel and land plots spanning 4.4 hectares. Indonesia is also eyeing a plot of land that the Saudi government offers via a tender. The land in question is also close to Islam’s most sacred mosque, the Masjid Al-Haram. Danantara Chief Investment Officer Pandu Sjahrir told the Jakarta Globe that Indonesia was still cooling its heels for the official results.

“The ball is in the Mecca commission RCMC's court. We are waiting, but [the announcement] should be within the first quarter of 2026,” Pandu said in Jakarta on the margins of an economic conference.

The government has repeatedly said that Indonesia had to compete against 90 bidders for the coveted land. Indonesia is among the top two contenders. The Globe asked who Indonesia’s sole competitor was, to which Pandu responded that it was a Saudi entity. He did not go into further details. Danantara Chief Executive Officer Rosan Roeslani has also signaled a possible Indonesia victory in the tender. 

“We have been notified that we would get the land, which is about 600 meters away from Masjid al-Haram and spans around 32 hectares,” Rosan said not long ago.

Danantara’s data showed that RCMC had put 8 areas on a tender. Their locations are between 0.3 and 3.5 kilometers away from the sacred mosque.

This year, Indonesia is sending 221,000 people on Hajj, the major pilgrimage that able Muslims have to perform at least once in their lifetime. Around 2 million people perform the minor pilgrimage of Umrah annually.

Last year, Danantara signed a $500 million conditional purchase deal to acquire the up-and-running Novotel Makkah Thakher City, which comes with 1,461 rooms. The deal includes the purchase of 14 land plots, which will host 13 towers and a shopping center. Indonesia is set to break ground on this land cluster within this year. The towers in question are expected to have over 4,564 rooms.

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