Indonesia's parliament has approved a bill to relocate the nation's capital from Jakarta to a jungled area of Kalimantan on Borneo island, the planning minister said yesterday.

The new state capital law, which provides a legal framework for President Joko Widodo's ambitious $32 billion mega project, stipulates how development of the capital will be funded and governed.

"The new capital has a central function and is a symbol of the identity of the nation, as well as a new centre of economic gravity," planning minister, Suharso Monoarfa, told parliament after the bill was passed into law.

The new centre will be called "Nusantara", a Javanese name for the Indonesian archipelago chosen by the president, Monoarfa announced on Monday.

Plans to relocate the government from Jakarta, a bustling megacity of 10 million people that suffers from chronic congestion, floods and air pollution, have been floated by multiple presidents, but none have made it this far.

Southeast Asia's largest economy has envisioned the new capital as a low-carbon "super hub" that will support pharmaceutical, health and technology sectors and promote sustainable growth beyond Java island. But critics say the law was rushed through with limited public consultation and environmental consideration.