Brazil’s Minas Gerais state has awarded its first availability-pay contract to a three-firm consortium led by Odebrecht. The consortium proposed the lowest monthly availability payment. Under the 30-year DBFOM contract the consortium will upgrade the 66-km Northern stretch of a 124.6-km-long tolled beltway serving Belo Horizonte, capital city of Minas Gerais. The contract is worth Reais 4 billion (US$1.7 billion).