Kuwait's government said it had awarded a contract to build a new terminal at Kuwait International Airport to the same consortium that had an earlier more-expensive bid dismissed.

Turkey's Limak Holding and local construction firm Kharafi National won the deal after bidding KD1.312 billion ($4.34 billion) for the work - KD74 million cheaper than the offer it submitted in November.

The government dismissed all bids proffered in November without explanation - though Kuwait's Al Watan newspaper quoted ministry sources saying they had been too expensive and had not met technical specifications.

The government's Central Tenders Committee said late on Monday the Limak-Kharafi consortium had submitted the lowest bid during the re-tendering process.

Kuwait has planned tens of billions of dollars worth of infrastructure projects in recent years but many have been held up by bureaucratic delays, political tensions and allegations by some members of the parliament of corruption and inefficiency.  - Reuters