Indonesia will begin construction on the IDR300tn ($25bn) Trans-Sumatra highway road project in October.

The project is part of the Indonesian Government’s master plan for the acceleration and expansion of Indonesian economic development (MP3EI) infrastructure project programme that started in 2011.

The Trans-Sumatra project includes construction of 2,700km of road from Banda Aceh, the capital of Sumatra’s westernmost province of Aceh, to Bandar Lampung, the capital of the Sumatra’s southernmost province of Lampung.

"The Trans-Sumatra project can be launched in October. But we are yet to have the exact date."

Divided into four main sections of Lampung-Palembang, Palembang-Pekanbaru, Pekanbaru-Medan and Medan-Banda Aceh, the project will connect all the major cities in Sumatra.

The project was earlier scheduled to begin this month but there was a delay in getting certain approvals.

Economy coordinating minister Chairul Tanjung said that the project’s legal documents have been prepared, but is awaiting some business plan approval from finance and public works ministers.

Indonesia’s state-owned enterprises minister Dahlan Iskan had previously announced that the groundbreaking of the project will take place on 9 October and that the project would be carried out by state-run construction firm Hutama Karya.

However, Tanjung said: "The Trans-Sumatra project can be launched in October. But we are yet to have the exact date."