The largest contract was a $2.7bn deal awarded to a consortium of the Qatari/French QDVC and France’s Alstom for the design and build of the second phase of the Lusail light rail transit (LRT) project.

The contract comprises construction of 25 stations and a depot, architectural and electro-mechanical works packages, the supply of 35 trains equipped with catenary-free technology, track-laying, energy supply and telecommunications as well as control systems.

The four-line network will cross the city covering a distance of 33 kilometres, including 7km underground and 37 stations. The system is expected to enter commercial service from 2018.

There was only one other contract award in June larger than $500m. It was a $667m deal awarded to Saudi Arabia’s El-Seif Engineering Contracting by the Interior Ministry to build phase 2b of its security compounds network programme, also known as the King Abdullah Project (KAP).

Phase 2b of the programme will involve building various, headquarters, administrative and residential buildings at sites in Hail and Tabuk. This is the second contract that El-Seif has been awarded on the scheme in the past year, with the local contractor winning the contract to build phase 2a of the project in December.