Bengal govt spent Rs 1,500 cr to provide fuel subsidy: Mamata Banerjee slams Modi over fuel price issue

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday took a jab at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asked when would the central government clear all the pending dues it owed to the state.

The remarks came after Narendra Modi urged the non-BJP ruled states to reduce taxes on petrol and diesel to provide relief to the people from the price hike.

While meeting all the district police superintendents, district magistrates and other officials through video conferencing, Banerjee said, “The Centre owes West Bengal Rs 97,000 crore and I request the PM to pay us half of that amount and we will provide higher subsidy on petrol and diesel than the BJP-ruled states.”

Mamata Banerjee further stated that Modi’s comment on rising fuel prices was “one-sided” and “misleading”. She further said that the chief ministers did not get a single chance to speak at the meeting, so, they could not counter the Prime Minister’s statement.

She claimed that the West Bengal government has spent Rs 1,500 crore in the past three years to subsidise petrol and diesel in the state. And the government have been providing a subsidy of Re 1 on every litre of petrol and diesel for the past three years.