The local Al-Arif Contracting Company has been awarded construction contracts worth a total of AED176.7m ($47.9m).

The contracts will involve the construction of three high-rise buildings in Al-Nahda, Al-Qusais and Al-Souq al-Kabeer, 92 villas in Al-Badia and a supermarket in Al-Fahidi.

The three high-rise buildings are scheduled for completion by the end of 2012, and the villas and supermarket schemes are due to be completed by mid-2013.

Al-Arif Contracting is a subsidiary of Masharie, the private equity arm of Dubai Investments.

The contract awards are a further sign that Dubai’s construction sector has picked up a little in 2012. In February, the local/Australian Al-Habtoor Leighton Group was awarded an estimated AED1.9bn to build the Habtoor Palace hotel development in Dubai.