The tug-of-war over the clauses added by the state government in the lease deed has been going on for a while.

Following an earlier court order, the state government had scrapped a set of clauses to which the Railways had raised objection.

The revised document was submitted to the Railways on December 23. But the state government had added some fresh clauses in it, which the Railways finds unacceptable.

The lease document is under consideration by the Railway Board and officials say the ministry will soon write to the government, asking for a change in the clauses.

One of the new clauses the Railways opposes is that they will have to take permission from the state government at every step of establishing ancillary units at the site.

Another clause, which too have not gone down well, is that the Railways will have to take permission from the state government before removing each and every tree on the land handed over them and in case state government rejects their proposal, construction at the site will be stopped.

The sources say that ideally, the permission for cutting trees for a project is taken at one time by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.

Moreover, the lease document will have to be renewed every 30 years and its renewal would be at the sole mercy of the state government.

“While the lease document is being studied thoroughly by the Railway Board, it is clear that it cannot be accepted in its present format. There are certain clauses that would create unnecessary hurdles for the project and we will completely be at the mercy of the state government. We will be sending our reply to the state government within a week,” said a senior Railways official.

With the tussle over the clauses showing no sign of being resolved, it is not certain as to when the work on the rail coach factory will actually begin.

The state government had earlier decided to withdraw the land given to the Railways for the project a day before Congress chief Sonia Gandhi was scheduled to conduct the bhumi pujan there.