JAKARTA, April 17 (Reuters): As Indonesia's Covid-19 total reached 1,599,763-total on Saturday after 5,041 ....... new cases was recorded; Indonesian state companies building a Chinese-funded high-speed rail line are negotiating for Beijing to increase its stake in the project after budget overruns look set to boost costs by a fifth, a company executive said.
The 142 km (88 miles) rail project, connecting the capital Jakarta to Bandung, which is part of China's Belt and Road Initiative, was originally expected to cost 66.76 trillion rupiah ($4.57 billion) when awarded to a consortium of Chinese and Indonesian state firms in 2015.