Contractors are preparing to submit bids on 17 July for a contract to build a major water transmission system in Northern Oman.

The contract is one of the largest construction schemes to be tendered in the sultanate this year.

The Public Authority for Electricity and Water project involves the construction of a water transmission system from the coast at Sohar in Al-Batinah North Governorate inland to the mountains in Ad-Dhahirah Governorate.

At least 12 firms have collected tender documents for the project. They are:

• Al-Hassan Engineering Company (local)
• Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC - Lebanon)
• Gulf Petrochemical Services & Trading (local)
• Egyptian Contracting Company & Partners (Egypt)
• Galfar Engineering & Contracting (local)
• Larsen & Toubro (India)
• Nagarjuna Construction Company International (India)
• Mothercat (part of Lebanon’s C.A.T Group)/Oman Shapoorji Construction Company (OSCO – India)
• Sezai Turkes Feyzi Akkaya (Turkey)
• SMC Infrastructure (India)
• Teejan Trading & Contracting (local)
• Towell Infrastructure Projects Company (local)

Oman’s projects market has remained flat this year with $4.35bn of contract awards so far this year compared to $4.97bn of contract awards made during the same period of last year. The largest contract to be awarded in Oman this year is the estimated $715m deal secured by a joint venture of CCC and India’s Shapoorji Pallonji for the construction of the Mall of Oman for the UAE’s Majid al-Futtaim.