Castor oil is a vegetable oil obtained from the castor bean (or preferably castor seed as the castor plant Ricinus communis L. is not a member of the bean family). The plant is a native of India, where it bears several ancient Sanskrit names, the most ancient and most usual being Eranda, which has passed into several other Indian languages. Castor is a major crop in Kutch and in the neighboring Banaskantha districts. Castor oil is a valuable purgative and extremely versatile and unique in its composition. Castor oil consists for 90 percent of the unsaturated C: 18 ricinoleic fatty acid. It is a major source of sebacic acid.

In 2001-02, Kutch produced 58,600 MT i.e., 12 percent of the total castor seeds in Gujarat and was ranked 3rd among the districts in the state. Banaskantha and Mahesana being first and second collectively produced more than half of the total in the state. On the other hand, Gujarat being top castor seeds producing state in India in 2001-02 produced 70 percent of the total castor seeds in the country, and FAO figures places India in the year 2002 at number one position in castor seed production in the world with more than 40 percent production of the global total.

Production of castor is increased substantially from the level of 58,600MT in a Year 2001-02 to 2, 44,500 MT in F.Y.2012-13.