The association among yield components, their direct and indirect influence on grain yield was investigated in 47 genotypes of rice including 16 local basmati varieties and 31 high yielding varieties / advanced lines under two sowing dates. Grain yield plant^-1 had significant positive association with grain yield panicle^-1, harvest index, filled grains panicle^-1, biological yield plant-1, primary branch number panicle-1, productive tillers plant^-1 and secondary branch number panicle^-1 in both the environments. Path coefficient analysis revealed that grain yield panicle^-1 had the highest direct effect on grain yield plant^-1 in both the environments, followed by harvest index, biological yield plant^-1 and productive tillers plant^-1, suggesting that the improvement in grain yield could be efficient, if the selection is based on these component characters.