Indonesia strengthens palm oil production via Agrinas land allocation
The company was assigned responsibility for overseeing palm oil plantations.
INDONESIA – The Indonesian government handed over nearly 400,000 hectares (988,000 acres) of seized palm oil plantations to Agrinas Palma Nusantara, giving the new state company a sizeable land bank that could make it one of the world’s biggest oil palm growers.
Authorities confiscated the plantations following suspicions that they were unlawfully operating within protected forest zones, according to Febrie Adriansyah, a senior figure at the Attorney General’s Office and member of the forestry task force.
Agrinas, a rapidly expanding palm oil enterprise, underwent a major restructuring in early 2025. This restructuring facilitated through PT Indra Karya (Persero), a state-owned company specialising in technical and management consultancy, was part of the initiative of President Prabowo Subianto’s administration to reform the palm oil industry.
The company was assigned the responsibility of overseeing palm oil plantations that had been seized from the Duta Palma Group amid allegations of corruption.
The company manages approximately 221,000 hectares of palm oil plantations on behalf of the Attorney General’s Office (AGO). At the same time, the state pursues a money laundering case against its owner, the Duta Palma Group.
Additionally, with the new addition of nearly 400,000 hectares of confiscated land from the forestry task force, its total managed area now exceeds 833,000 hectares.
Agrinas received control over 394,547 hectares of plantations spread across Central Kalimantan on the island of Borneo, as well as the provinces of Riau, North Sumatra, and South Sumatra. Two hundred thirty-two companies had previously managed these lands, though the government declined to disclose their identities.
During a media interaction at the ceremony, Agrinas CEO Agus Sutomo reassured the public that the company was conducting a comprehensive evaluation of each plantation. Out of the 484,000 hectares surveyed by Agrinas, approximately 271,000 hectares are deemed productive, while the remaining areas show varying levels of degradation.
According to the company, its current output level is 6,000 metric tons of fresh fruit bunches per day.
Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, leader of the forestry task force, reported that authorities had confiscated over 2 million hectares of plantations illegally operating within forest zones nationwide, covering various crops, including oil palm.
By August, the task force plans to acquire up to 3 million hectares, which will be designated either for continued use as palm oil and other crop plantations or converted back into forested land, according to his statement.
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