 Solvent extraction involves crushing of oil seeds and oil seed cakes. From ancient time, vegetable oils were obtained by crushing oil seeds in village ghanis / kolhus / chekkus in India. At the beginning of the 20th century the vegetable oils industry was based on some 500,00 bullock-driven ghanis producing about 800,000 tonnes of oils. Slowly, in addition to these ghanis, power-driven ghanis (rotary ghanis made indigenously) imported expeller and imported hydraulic press plants started crushing oilseeds.