In this work, the production and evaluation of fuel properties of pyrolytic oil from one non-edible oil seed Mahua was reported. Both thermal and catalytic pyrolysis using CaO was carried out. The aim of the study was to detect the optimum temperature to produce maximum pyrolytic oil and to increase the quality of oil using catalyst. It was observed that thermal pyrolysis of Mahua seed at 525 degrees C produced maximum yield of liquid. Hence the influence of catalyst was examined at the optimum temperature (525 degrees C) on liquid yield and its properties. The catalytic effect of CaO, on Mahua seed pyrolysis at a feed to catalyst ratio of 2: 1, 4: 1 and 8: 1 was studied. The pyrolytic liquid collected was separated into two phases. The top phase (organic) was considered as oil phase where as the bottom phase as aqueous. Maximum yield of 40.71 wt.% of oil with better fuel properties was obtained as Mahua seed pyrolyzed in the presence of CaO at the ratio of 2: 1. The result confirmed that catalyst (CaO) not only increased the heating value (41-43.15 MJ kg(-1)), viscosity (0.033-0.018 Pa s) and cold flow properties but also altered the pH (4.86-8.58) significantly when compared with thermal pyrolysis. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.