After dilly-dallying for about a year over sharing funds for the Chitpur terminal station project, the state government has agreed to cough up a portion.

The railways have demanded that the government pay for constructing roads and developing a passenger dispersal system. The estimated bill: Rs 174 crore.

Earlier, the government had refused to fund the terminal station, pointing out that it was a railway project and the funds should come from Delhi. The project was all but stalled, as the railways would not invest in the passenger dispersal system.

“Though we have financial problems and though it is a project adopted by the Centre, we will share funds for the project for the sake of the state. We will pay for the construction of roads, a flyover and the other infrastructure for a passenger dispersal system,’’ chief secretary Ashok Gupta told Metro.

According to officials, the government altered its stand after the Eastern Railway (ER) authorities firmly told it that they were in no way ready to bear the entire cost of the project.

Urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya had taken the matter to railway minister Nitish Kumar a month ago, urging the Centre to bear the cost of the project. His plea cut no ice.

The ER authorities stuck to their stand of paying for the railway portion of the project.

State secretariat sources said chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, realising the gravity of the project, discussed the matter with senior officials and agreed to shell out the funds. The Left Front government did not want to give the BJP-led Centre any opportunity to claim that the project had to be shelved for non-cooperation from the state.

Chief secretary Gupta held meetings with the senior ER officials last week and assured them of the state’s investment in the project. “Nobody can complain that we do not invest in any central project. We have provided funds for the Metro Railway extension project. We will pay our share for the Chitpur terminal station project,’’ he said. The state’s part of the project will be implemented in phases, Gupta elaborated.

Expressing satisfaction over the development, ER chief operating manager Subhas Thakur said the government should convene a joint meeting with the railway to prepare a work schedule for the project.

“We just want a commitment from the state government on sharing funds. We expect that the project will be through within the stipulated time if we work together. If any problem arises, it will be sorted out across the table,’’ Thakur said.