Jakarta, Oct. 22 -- The Indonesian government plans to establish seven new modern fertilizer plants over the next five years to strengthen national fertilizer self-sufficiency, with five of them targeted for completion by 2029.

"The development budget is around Rp50 trillion (US$3 billion)," Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman said during a press conference at the Agriculture Ministry office here on Wednesday.

He noted that the new plants will be energy-efficient, helping reduce production costs. While older factories allocate up to 43 percent of their operational expenses for gas, the new facilities are expected to spend only around 22-23 percent.

According to Sulaiman, the construction budget will be sourced from efficiency prog...