One of the three iso-nitrogenous (30% crude protein) and iso-energetic (15.0 MJ kg−1 diet) oil cake-based diets (groundnut, D-1; soybean, D-2 and mustard, D-3) was fed to the fingerlings (6.61 ± 0.06 g) of silver barb (Puntius gonionotus) for 120 days in triplicate fertilized ponds (0.04 ha) with a stocking density of 9000 fish ha−1. Fish were fed at 10% of their body weight for the first month, followed by 3% in the second and 2.5% in the third and fourth months of the culture period. The fish fed diets D-1, D-2 and D-3 grew from initial weights of 6.67, 6.67 and 6.50 g to 320.23, 298.23 and 305.13 g respectively. No significant variation (P>0.05) was found in the growth and nutrient utilization of fish fed different dietary treatments. Net profits of Indian Rupees 67 385, 59 535 and 65 790 ha−1 were obtained in fish fed D-1, D-2 and D-3, respectively, within 120 days of culture. The results of this study suggest the possibility of the use of mustard oil cake as a dietary protein source for pond culture of silver barb in addition to groundnut and soybean oil cakes without compromising the growth, nutrient utilization, production performance and economics of culture of this fish.