Indonesia’ oldest car company, Djawatan Angkoetan Motor Repoeblik Indonesian, or well-known as DAMRI prepared funds around US$150 million to replace 500 diesel buses into electric buses within five years period. The decision taken followed President Joko Widodo planned to sign an electric vehicle regulation in coming weeks.

The company official Dipo Wirawan explained on Friday (July 26), the planned was based on the assumption that the management of electric power sources for battery charging by the state-owned power producer, PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) begins along with the enactment of new policies on electric vehicles.

Currently, DAMRI has joint research with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on the use of electric buses. Based on the research, there are several factors that can significantly influence the program such as electricity tariffs from PLN and driver’ competency. Given the many other factors, ADB and DAMRI are still refining their studies.

The government vowed that it would provide broad fiscal incentives to the national automotive industry which pay special attention to the development of battery-based electric vehicles and other battery and auto-development industries in the country. Its an effort to drive export, productivity and global competitiveness of the manufacturer.