For the ever growing requirements in cereals production, rice occupies the top position. To meet the future food demand, there is an urgent need to break the yield barriers. The utilization of hybrid rice technology has been contemplated as a potential strategy for yield enhancement which has successfully been demonstrated and commercialized. It has been anticipated that hybrid rice technology will play a key role in ensuring food security worldwide in the future decades. In order to deploy CMS system to develop commercial rice hybrid, it is essential to have an effective restorer line. Thus, identification of restorers among elite quality cultivars can serve as important tool for the development of better rice hybrids. In the light of above points, the present investigation was conducted to identify the restorers and maintainers from elite quality cultivars. Thirty six genotypes and their F₁s were used for identification of restorers and maintainers using pollen and spikelet fertility for a cytoplasmic male sterile (CMS) line (Pusa 6A). The pollen parents showing stable fertility restorer behavior were evaluated with the help of SSR markers to establish the presence of fertility restoring genes. The present observations revealed that out of 36 rice genotypes 20 were found as restorer and 16 were maintainers.