Aarti Dhar Edible oils will be sold at subsidised rates through ration shops from the next month. The announcement, made by Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar during the budget session, envisages distribution of 10 lakh tonnes of imported edible oils in 2008-09 at a subsidised price of Rs.15 a kg. The subsidy will be to the tune of Rs. 1,500 crore. Every cardholder can buy one kg a month, according to an official release issued here on Friday by the Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Ministry. Public sector undertakings have been entrusted with import, refinement, packaging and distribution of subsidised oils to the States, and 1.79 lakh tonnes has already been contracted for the purpose. Of this, one lakh tonnes has been shipped to Indian ports. Fifteen States will distribute edible oils through the PDS. These are Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Orissa, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura and West Bengal. The PSUs have already started supply of packed edible oils to the States. Import dependence for edible oils has been between 34 and 39 per cent of the total consumption during the past three years. Following an unprecedented rise in international prices of edible oils in the past two years, the domestic market also saw a spiral. The government already removed import duty on crude edible oils from April 1 this year and banned export of edible oils from March 17.