A superacidic mesoporous catalyst WOx/RHS-MCM-41 was synthesized using high purity biogenic silica extracted from an agro-waste, rice husk ash. Catalyst acidity was enhanced by dispersion of surface WOx groups on mesoporous support and was used for methanolysis of soybean oil and free fatty acid. Catalyst activity was found to depend upon the structure of WOx species formed over catalyst surface. Characterization with XRD, SEM, TEM, UV-vis DRS, Raman spectroscopy and acidity determination revealed that formation of highly dispersed amorphous polyoxotungstate phase on the catalyst surface developed with a specific tungsten loading and originated strong acidic sites showing high activity. Kinetic analysis revealed that pseudo-first order kinetics was followed up to the optimum reaction time with an activation energy 42.7 kJ mol(-1). Catalyst showed high activity giving similar to 90% FAME yield and reusability for multiple cycles without regeneration. The high catalytic activity was retained even in presence of free fatty acid also. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.