Construction firm Simplex Projects Ltd said on Thursday it has been awarded a major contract to develop a housing project in Libya.

The project, comprising the construction of 2,000 houses, a public building and infrastructure like roads, drainage and sewage systems, is scheduled to be completed in 36 months, it said in a statement.

This, the company's first overseas project, takes the firm's current order book to 30 billion rupees, Chairman & Managing Director B.K. Mundhra told reporters.

"We are looking at getting more such government orders in Middle East and Holland."

In FY08, the firm earned 2.29 billion rupees from construction projects in India, he added. Reuters