March 2026
On 6 November 2025, the government of Indonesia issued Government Regulation No. 48 of 2025 on the Control of Abandoned Areas and Land (“GR 48”), which revokes Government Regulation No. 20 of 2021 (“GR 20”). GR 48 aims to ensure that all land rights and licensed areas are actively used, maintained and developed in line with their socioeconomic and spatial planning purposes. This addresses persistent problems of nonproductive concessions, idle large scale landholdings and stalled development that hinder national priorities such as food security, economic resilience, social equity and environmental sustainability.
To achieve this, GR 48 strengthens the state’s authority to take over land that is deliberately neglected — whether under valid licenses, expired concessions or unused rights — and reallocates it, including conversions to Bank Tanah (“Land Bank”) or Tanah Cadangan Umum Negara (“TCUN”) for public interest and strategic national programs. However, there are certain exclusions for strategic governance areas such as Adat right to manage (Hak Pengelolaan (HPL)), Land Bank assets, Batam Free Trade Zone and Free Port Authority (BP Batam) and the national capital authority (IKN Authority).