Invest in Central Kalimantan
Indonesia’s largest province by area: oil palm estates, coal on the upper Barito, and peat forests restored for carbon credits.
Contact usKalimantan Tengah
Central Kalimantan in figures
- Capital
- Palangka Raya
- Population, mid-2025
- 2.85 million
- Area
- 153,430 km²
- Regencies and cities
- 13 regencies, 1 city
- GRDP, 2025
- Rp 241.1 trillion
Population (mid-2025 estimate) and GRDP (current prices): BPS-Statistics Indonesia.
Sectors
What to invest in
-
Oil palm
Plantations and forestry are the largest part of the economy. Peat and forest status decide what can still be planted, so most deals are existing estates.
Ask about oil palm -
Coal
Coal comes mostly from the upper Barito basin and travels downstream by barge. In the 2026 dry season, parts of the river became too shallow for loaded barges.
Ask about coal -
Carbon & forest restoration
The Katingan Mentaya project protects about 149,800 hectares of peat swamp forest in Katingan and East Kotawaringin, and had new credits issued in July 2026.
Ask about carbon projects -
Food & agribusiness
The national food estate, begun in 2020, grows rice on land of the old peatland rice project in Pulang Pisau and Kapuas, the province’s two main rice regencies.
Ask about food & agribusiness -
Gold
Small workings along the Barito, Kapuas, Kahayan and Katingan rivers, and hard-rock deposits in the north, where Mount Muro became a working mine.
Ask about gold -
Property
Palangka Raya, planned in 1957, has the largest land area of any Indonesian city. Demand comes mostly from civil servants and the services around them.
Ask about property
Access
Ports, roads and industry
- Seaports at Sampit and Kumai, on rivers near the south coast.
- Tjilik Riwut airport in Palangka Raya.
- The Barito carries coal barges downstream, so river depth sets delivery in the dry season.
- The Trans-Kalimantan road links Palangka Raya with Banjarmasin.
Due diligence
Check before you buy
-
Check forest status before anything else. Large parts of the province are peat or designated forest.
Forest area status: the check that can sink a land deal -
Check the fire record. Peat haze hit Palangka Raya hard in 2015 and again in 2019.
Peat and fire: two risks to check on any estate -
Upriver, check how the cargo moves in the dry season, not only the distance on a map.
Hauling, barging and ports: coal logistics in Kalimantan -
Talk to the villages. Dayak customary land may not show on any certificate.
Customary land and community consent in Kalimantan
Articles
Keep reading
- The five provinces of Kalimantan, compared Capitals, economies, ports, airports and leading sectors of West, Central, South, East and North Kalimantan, set side by side in one table.
- Peat and fire: two risks to check on any estate Why peat and fire belong in the due diligence on an oil palm estate: the peat rules, who pays when the land burns and what to check on the ground.
- Buying an existing plantation: the due diligence that matters What to check before you buy an oil palm estate in Indonesia: title and licences, forest status, plasma duties, people, fire, the mill and the records.
- Hauling, barging and ports: coal logistics in Kalimantan How Kalimantan coal gets from pit to ship: haul roads and the limits on public roads, river barges in low water, offshore transfers and terminal permits.
- Gold in Kalimantan: where it is and how it's mined Where Kalimantan's gold lies, how alluvial and hard-rock deposits differ, what the closed Kelian mine shows and why so much of the digging is unlicensed.
- Forest area status: the check that can sink a land deal Why land with a certificate or a permit can still sit inside Indonesia's forest estate, how to check it and what release, PPKH and the 2025 task force mean.
General information, not investment advice. The figures are the latest published when this page was updated, so confirm them before you rely on them.
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