Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Health is expected to award the main construction contract for its $306 million (1.147 billion Saudi riyals) Phase 2 of King Faisal Medical City in Assir in March 2018, a source close to the project has said.

The $170 million Phase 1 was completed in 2016.

The source told Thomson Reuters Projects that the main contract was awarded in January 2018 to Almajal Alarabi Holding, which submitted the lower bid of $309.7 million, but the company withdrew from the project.

“Other bids are still under evaluation and the contract award is expected by early March 2018,” the source added.

Bidders in the fray include Al Bawani Company, Salini Impregilo, Bin Jarallah Establishment for Trading & General Contracting (Bin Jarallah Group), Al Fouzan Trading & General Construction Company, and Al Rashid Trading & Contracting Company, officials from these bidding companies confirmed with Thomson Reuters Projects.

The project would be developed on a 260,000-square-metre plot and is expected to be completed by first quarter 2021, another source told Thomson Reuters Projects.

He said the scope of work includes construction of medical centres, facilities buildings, an administrative building, underground parking, a convention centre, a hotel as well as utilities and infrastructure works.

King Faisal Medical City will have 1,350 beds, according to the website of project’s architectural consultant, HDR CUH2A Architecture.

Hill International is the project management consultant and Zuhair Fayez Partnership Consultants is the design, lead and structural consultant for the project. 

In its 2018 budget, Saudi Arabia has increased its allocation for healthcare by 22 percent year-on-year to 147 billion riyals. 

(Reporting by: Senthil Palanisamy; Editing by Anoop Menon and Bhaskar Raj)

(anoop.menon@thomsonreuters.com)

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