Activated carbons were prepared from the husk of krishnachura (Delonix regia) fruit and the hull of castor (Ricinus communis L.) seed using zinc chloride and steam-N-2 as activating agent. The activating agent steam-N-2 was used only for krishnachura while ZnCl2 was used both for activating krishnachura and castor samples. It was found that the adsorptive capacity of carbons produced by using ZnCl2 and steam-N-2 as activating agent is comparable with that of commercially available samples. The adsorptive capacity was measured by permanganate method and the carbons produced were employed for the decolorization of molasses solution.