Abstract: Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) in CD36, a macrophage scavenger receptor have been implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetic atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases. CD36 is responsible for the uptake of free fatty acids specially Oxidized Low Density Lipoprotein (Ox-LDL) during diseased conditions. Aim of the present research was to study the association of genetic polymorphisms in CD36 gene and risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in a North Indian population. Three SNPs in CD36 gene viz. CI962235 (Ins1361A) at 317 codon in exon 10, rs3212018 (16 bp del) in exon 14 and rs1049673 (G>C) in exon 15 were screened in 200 each of healthy controls and T2DM patients. Clinical evaluation was done using commercial kits while the methods used for genotyping were Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and Single Strand Conformation Polymorphism (SSCP). Statistical analysis was done by Fisher's exact test and chi-square (χ2) statistics using SPSS (version-15.0). A significant increase in the clinical parameters such as Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP), Fasting Plasma Glucose (FPG), Post Prandial Glucose (PPG), Triglyceride (TG), Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) and Very Low Density Lipoprotein (VLDL) was observed in T2DM cases when compared to controls by multivariate logistic regression analysis (p<0.05). Genotyping studies showed that out of three SNPs, rs3212018 was polymorphic in our population. Homozygous deletion (-/-) was found in 76% of T2DM cases in contrast to 72% of healthy controls. The present and past association studies of CD36 gene variants showed that this is an important candidate gene in T2DM.