Govt will need Rp 75 billion for coal briquette development

The government will need at least Rp 75 billion to support its program to promote the use of coal briquette in the country, which will among others include the construction of new briquette factories.

"We have proposed the ministry of finance to allocate about Rp 75 billion for the briquette development in the state budget. House of Representatives have supported the program but the ministry of finance has not made any response to the proposal," said Simon Felix Sembiring, the director general for coal and geothermal at the ministry of energy and mineral resources.

Sembiring said that a larger part of the funds would be used to expand the production capacity of the briquette to 120,000 tons a year from about 22,000 tons at present. In addition, the funds would be also used to provide a subsidy for the sales of briquette for household usage.

According to him, the sale of briquette to households should be given a subsidy of at least Rp 500 per kilogram so that the new energy alternative will be able to compete with the highly subsidized kerosene.

"The subsidy is also needed as incentives to encourage the households to use the coal briquette," he added.(dino)