Groundnut shell ash (GSA) and metakaolin (MK) were investigated for their stabilizing prospects in highly expansive clay soils due to the rising cost of traditional stabilizers and the need for cost-effective utilization of waste materials for useful engineering applications (black cotton soil). The natural soil�s index qualities revealed that it belongs to A-7-6 in the AASHTO classification system and CH in the USCS classification system. This implied that the soil is unsuitable for most engineering purposes. The natural soil�s liquid limit and plasticity index values of 60.2 and 30.1, respectively, which indicated that the samples were malleable. The soaked CBR for natural soil is 1.67, but it rises to 3.26 when 10 GSA and 10 MK are added. This value fell short of the recommended CBR values for pavement materials. The samples� durability measured based on their resistance to strength loss, fell short of the recommended strength by 80. This concludes that the groundnut shell ash and metakaolin cannot be used as standalone for stabilization of black cotton soil. However, when compared to the un-stabilized soil, the strength of UCS increased from 128.03 kN/m2 to 482 kN/m2 after 28 days of curing. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.