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Oman’s Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning has received 14 bids for its consultancy services tender for the masterplan and detailed design of the New City Sohar in Al Batinah North Governorate.
The tender was published on 24 November 2025, with bid submissions originally due by 19 January 2026, and was subsequently extended twice to 29 January 2026 and 15 February 2026.
The lowest bid was submitted by local firm Design Unit Engineering at 1.85 million Omani rials ($4.8 million) while the highest was submitted by Canada-headquartered WSP International at OMR 6.41 million ($16.67 million).
The financial bids in ascending order of value are as follows:
1 Oman’s Design Unit Engineering OMR 1,849,045 ($4.81 million)
2 Oman’s Alamur Engineering Consultant OMR1,973,312 ($5.13 million)
3 Oman’s Sering International OMR2,082,250 ($5.41 million)
4 Oman’s Scientific Ink Engineering Consultants OMR2,162,921 ($5.62 million)
5 Lebanon’s Dar Al-Handasah OMR 2,255,595 ($5.86 million)
6 Oman’s Nicholson Jones Partnership OMR 2,882,350 ($7.49 million)
7 Bahrain’s Dar SSH International OMR 3,250,000 ($8.45 million)
8 Italy’s F&M Middle East Engineering OMR 3,505,374 ($9.11 million)
9 Kuwait’s Dar Al-Nabhan OMR 4,086,654 ($10.63 million)
10 Oman’s CID Gulf OMR 4,248,395 ($11.05 million)
11 Singapore’s Surbana Consultants OMR 4,490,560 ($11.68 million)
12 Lebanon’s Khatib & Alami OMR 4,709,089 ($12.24 million)
13 Qatar’s Ibrahim Jaidah Architects OMR 6,000,000 ($15.60 million)
14 Canada’s WSP International OMR 6,413,245 ($16.67 million)
A total of 45 companies had purchased the tender documents including 20 international firms.
In January 2026, Zawya Projects had reported that the contract was likely to be awarded in the second quarter of this year.
The project, referred to as NCSo, is envisaged as a green, smart, sustainable and vibrant city fully aligned with Oman Vision 2040, according to the tender notice. Its strategic location on historic farmlands in the vicinity of the Grand Mosque and the Palace and its high-level government backing position provides an opportunity to introduce innovative solutions across key urban elements.
(Writing by Deva Palanisamy; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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