Via Nadim Kawach in agbi.com: Saudi government entities awarded more than SAR6.5 billion ($1.7 billion) of contracts in January, led by housing, infrastructure and industry. More than half the value of the contracts issued last month – SAR3.7 billion – was allocated towards construction, with the remainder going on water , energy and industry projects, the Saudi Contractors’ Authority (SCA) said last week in its latest Muqawil (contractor) bulletin. There were 15 projects in all, and the capital Riyadh took the lion’s share by value at SAR4.8 billion. This month, the SCA is expecting the number of awarded contracts to rise to 25, from entities including Saudi Electricity Company, the National Housing Company and the Public Investment Fund (PIF).