Bengal govt spent Rs 1,500 cr in last 3 yrs to provide fuel subsidy: Mamata

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that her government has spent Rs 1,500 crore in the last three years to subsidise petrol and diesel prices in the state.

Her retort came a few hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a virtual interaction with chief ministers, flagged higher fuel prices in opposition-ruled states such as Maharashtra, Kerala and West Bengal and asked the state governments to reduce VAT for the benefit of the common man.

"Today's interaction with PM Narendra Modi was completely one-sided and misleading. Facts shared by him were wrong. We have been providing a subsidy of Re 1 on every litre of petrol and diesel for the last three years. We've spent Rs 1,500 crore on this," Banerjee told reporters at the state secretariat.

She claimed there was no scope for the chief ministers to speak at the meeting and hence, they could not counter the prime minister's statement.

"It would have been better had the PM not spoken on fuel price hike in a COVID-19 review meeting, it was his agenda," she said, iterating her demand for a reduction in fuel prices.