QATAR has so far awarded construction contracts worth a total of $4.22 billion for its New Port project, located south of Doha, which is expected to be completed by 2020, said a report in The Peninsula.

One of the largest infrastructure projects, the development is being built on a sprawling 26-sq-km area at an estimated cost of $7.41 billion.

The project includes a new port, a new base for the Qatar Emiri Naval Forces and the Qatar Economic Zone Three. Once the first phase is completed in 2016, the port will have a capacity to receive two million containers.

Its full capacity is expected to reach six million containers with the completion of the remaining two phases.