Minister of state for railways Manoj Sinha on Tuesday set a condition for handing over its land for constructing the approach road of the Sonepur-Digha rail-cum-road bridge.

"We do not have any problem in giving land to the state but only if the government compensates us for it with land or money. There is no other option in the matter," Sinha, who was on a visit to the state to assess the progress of ongoing of railway projects in the state, told reporters on Tuesday.

The Centre's stand came to the fore after the state government recently claimed that the land acquisition problem for constructing the approach road had been solved as the railways had agreed to provide land on the Sonepur side for it.

Delhi's decision is bad news for commuters, as it may prolong the bridge completion work. Gandhi Setu, which is in a bad shape, is the only option available to commuters for crossing the Ganga to go to north districts. Early completion of Sonepur-Digha rail-cum-road bridge would provide an alternative to commuters.

Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held video-conferencing with Bihar chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh in which the state had raised the point of not getting land for the approach road. Later, Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman Nigam (BRPNN) Limited, which had been assigned work to construct the approach road on the Sonepur side, had approached the railways to get land for the project.

Delhi's fresh condition came as news for the state government, as was evident from the assertion of a senior revenue and land reforms department official.

Sinha added that the railways had almost completed their work and bridge would become functional in July.

Sinha refuted the state government's stand that it had terminated the contract earlier awarded to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for constructing the approach road, as it abandoned the work midway.

"NHAI had never left the work of approach road of the bridge midway. The state government approached NHAI and said that it wanted to complete the work," said the junior minister.

Sinha also blamed the state government for the delay in making Patliputra Junction functional though it is ready for use. The railways could not make this junction operational because of agitation by villagers of Rupaspur and Jalalpur who demanded a road along the track passing through their locality.

Several rounds of parleys have taken place among top officials of the railways and the chief secretary but nothing concrete has emerged.