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Indonesia’s top investment official said Monday that the government has proposed to Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk the construction of an electric vehicle battery plant in the nickel-rich country. Musk confirmed that the company is considering the offer.
“We made an offer, is it possible to build an EV battery factory, precursor to cathodes, here. And he said he will consider it,” Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, told reporters.
Indonesia is looking to build up industries to exploit its rich natural resources, which include the world’s largest nickel reserves. Notably, Nickel is a crucial material for electric vehicle batteries and solar panels. Currently, Indonesia supplies 40% of the world’s nickel and has the potential to increase this to 75% by 2030, according to government data. The government has set a goal of producing 600,000 electric vehicles by 2030, and will require EVs and related components produced in Indonesia to contain of 60% local content by 2027.
Musk was in the nation to meet with Indonesian President Joko Widodo while attending a water conference on the island of Bali. He was also marking the launch of the Starlink satellite service in Indonesia.
