S. M. Pathare, S. N. Varpe, V.K Raut, U. H. Patil Chilli, correlation analysis, yield components and plant breeding 173-177 9 (4) 2025 October, 2025 Chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) is an economically important spice crop widely cultivated for its culinary and industrial value. Understanding the association among yield and yield contributing traits is essential for developing effective breeding strategies. The present investigation was conducted to study the phenotypic correlation among fifteen quantitative and qualitative traits in chilli using hybrids developed through a Line × Tester mating design. The selected three female lines were identified as promising general combiners for yield and yield-related traits based on their superior performance in earlier evaluations. These lines exhibited desirable attributes such as higher fruit number, better fruit weight, and overall productivity, indicating their strong genetic potential for transmission of favourable traits. Owing to their consistent performance and combining ability, they were utilized as female parents in the present study to develop hybrids. The crossing was intitated with three female lines and seven male testers, resulting in twenty-one hybrids evaluated for traits including days to 50% flowering, plant height, number of primary and secondary branches, days to first harvest, number of fruits per plant, fruit length, fruit diameter, moisture content, stalk length, average fruit weight, number of seeds per fruit, 1000 seed weight, wet red chilli yield per plant, and fruit yield per hectare. Correlation analysis revealed that fruit yield had a strong positive association with wet red chilli yield per plant, average fruit weight, number of seeds per fruit, and 1000 seed weight. Number of fruits per plant showed significant positive correlations with plant height, primary branches, and secondary branches. The use of such elite lines is expected to enhance the efficiency of hybridization programmes and facilitate the development of high-yielding chilli genotypes with improved agronomic traits. These findings indicate that improvement in these component traits can effectively enhance yield in chilli breeding programmes.