Indonesia is pushing forward with a major artificial intelligence infrastructure investment, with a USD 5 billion AI data center project set to be developed on a 30-hectare site in Nongsa, Batam, Riau Islands province.

The development marks the first international expansion outside China for RangeIDC, one of the country's largest data center companies and a firm listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

Chinese Data Center Giant Selects Batam for Global Debut

Range Intelligent Computing Technology Company Limited, known as RangeIDC, has chosen Batam as its inaugural overseas location, signalling growing interest from Chinese technology companies in Southeast Asian digital infrastructure markets.

The project will be carried out through a local entity, Equator Gate System Batam, or EGSB, which has been identified as the AI data center developer for the site.

Li Claudia Chandra, vice chairwoman of the Batam Free Trade Zone and Free Port Authority, known as BP Batam, announced the project on Monday, citing remarks reported by the ANTARA News Agency. She described the investment as a turning point for the island's economic trajectory.

"The presence of this Artificial Intelligence Data Center investment marks a momentum to accelerate Batam's transformation towards a technology-, innovation-, and digitalization-based economy," Li Claudia said.

Power Agreement Signed to Support High-Density AI Operations

A critical component of the project's progress has been the signing of a Power Purchase Agreement between PT PLN Batam and EGSB. PT PLN Batam is a subsidiary of Perusahaan Listrik Negara, Indonesia's state-owned electricity company.

The agreement is intended to ensure a stable and sustainable power supply for the high-density AI data center, which carries significant electricity demands characteristic of modern artificial intelligence workloads.

The signing of this energy agreement represents a formal step toward making the infrastructure development operational, locking in the energy supply arrangements that large-scale data center projects require from an early stage.

Fast-Track Mechanism to Accelerate Investment Realization

BP Batam's Deputy for Investment, Fary Djemy Francis, said the authority would oversee the project through a fast-track execution mechanism designed to help speed up investment realization. The mechanism reflects Indonesia's broader approach to attracting and retaining large-scale foreign technology investment by reducing administrative delays.

Fary Djemy said the project is expected to generate between 700 and 800 professional jobs in the digital technology and data centre sectors. These positions are intended to be developed in collaboration with universities located in Batam, positioning the local academic network as a talent pipeline for the emerging industry cluster.

Broader Industrial Ecosystem Expected to Follow

Beyond direct employment, BP Batam officials indicated the data centre project is expected to attract a range of related strategic industries to the area. Fary Djemy specifically cited cloud computing, semiconductor ecosystems, and AI services as sectors likely to be drawn to Batam on the back of the investment.

The projection reflects a wider ambition for Batam to evolve from its historical role as a manufacturing and industrial zone into a hub for the global digital economy.

"Batam is no longer developing solely as a manufacturing industrial zone but is transforming into an execution hub of the global digital industry," Fary Djemy said.

Batam's Position in the Regional Digital Infrastructure Race

The Batam Free Trade Zone has long served as an industrial and logistics corridor, benefiting from its proximity to Singapore and its status as a designated free trade and free port zone.

The RangeIDC-backed project represents one of the most significant single digital infrastructure investments announced for the island, and comes as Southeast Asia continues to attract substantial data center capital from both Western and Asian technology firms.

Indonesia as a whole has been positioning itself as a destination for data center investment, with the government emphasizing its large population, growing digital economy, and strategic geographic location.

Batam's inclusion in this push, given its free trade zone status and existing infrastructure connections, makes it a logical candidate for projects requiring both regulatory flexibility and proximity to regional technology hubs.

The 30-hectare footprint of the Nongsa development and the USD 5 billion investment figure place it among the larger data center projects currently in planning or development stages across the region.

RangeIDC's decision to anchor its first international site in Batam rather than other competing locations in Southeast Asia underscores the island's growing appeal to technology investors seeking an entry point into the broader Indonesian and regional digital market.

Li Claudia's remarks framed the investment not merely as a standalone project but as a catalyst intended to reshape Batam's economic identity. With the power purchase agreement in place and a fast-track oversight mechanism established by BP Batam, authorities appear focused on demonstrating that the regulatory and infrastructure conditions necessary for a project of this scale are already in place.

Indonesia Data Center Pipelines Are Moving Fast. Is Your Intelligence Keeping Up?

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