Eight rice genotypes were used for the molecular characterization and evaluation of genetic diversity using 62 SSR primers. Forty four primers revealed polymorphism among the genotypes. The number of alleles varied from 1-3 with a mean of 1.89. Cluster analysis based on SSR data revealed that four brown plant hopper (BPH) resistant genotypes viz., BM 71, PTB 33, Sivasinapu and SRAC 34997 formed one cluster while four susceptible genotypes viz., BPT 5204, MTU 7029, MTU 4870 and PLA 1100 formed another cluster. The susceptible (BPT 5204) and resistant (SRAC 34997) genotypes were clustered at two extremes based on similarity coefficient indices. The SSR primer, RM 223 co-localized with QBphr 8 on chromosome 8, RM 190 with QBphr5b on chromosome 6 and RM 6869 with Bph 18(t) on chromosome 12 amplified resistant specific allele in four resistant cultivars giving scope for utilization of these markers in marker-assisted selection after confirming linkage of these markers with resistance and susceptibility to BPH.