Surrabaya, E. Java. Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said the government has not yet finalized its plan to use seized corruption assets to repay debt related to the Jakarta–Bandung high-speed railway, locally known as Whoosh, despite President Prabowo Subianto’s recent declaration that the state will take over the liability.

Speaking at Airlangga University in Surabaya on Monday, Purbaya said the framework is still being discussed internally.

“It’s still being discussed in detail. We only have the outlines at this stage,” Purbaya told reporters. He added that Indonesia may send another negotiating team to China to talk through repayment mechanics with its Chinese partners. “Maybe Indonesia will send a team to China again.”

Purbaya also hinted that he wants to be involved personally in the negotiations. “If I’m included, I can know directly how the discussion goes.”

President Prabowo earlier said the government would assume responsibility for the project’s remaining debt and plans to finance around Rp 1.2 trillion in annual payments using funds recovered from corruption cases that have been returned to the state treasury. The president described Whoosh as a strategic symbol of Indonesia–China economic cooperation, especially in technology transfer.

“We are capable and we are strong,” Prabowo said in Jakarta last week. “Money that used to be stolen, once recovered, will be used for the public interest.”

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Monday publicly detailed some of the alleged schemes in the project’s land acquisition process, including inflated land valuations and cases in which state-owned land was misrepresented as privately owned and then resold to the high-speed rail project at drastically higher prices.

“If the fair price is 10, and it becomes 100, that’s clearly not reasonable, that difference must be returned to the state,” said Asep Guntur Rahayu, acting deputy for enforcement at the KPK.

Asep stressed that the graft probe will not disrupt high-speed rail operations. The KPK is focusing only on the alleged financial misconduct linked to land procurement, not the railway’s service or business continuity.

“We don’t interfere with Whoosh’s operations,” Asep said. 

The Whoosh line, Southeast Asia’s first high-speed rail, is operated by a joint venture between Indonesian state-owned firms and China Railway Corp. Prabowo has publicly described the railway’s financing and governance as a national priority and a test of Indonesia’s credibility in major infrastructure partnerships.