Groundnut yield improvement depends on the availability of genetically diverse genotypes possessing desirable yield and quality traits. Evaluating genetic variability, trait associations and multivariate diversity among genotypes helps breeders identify superior parents for developing high-yielding and quality cultivars. This study evaluated genetic variability, trait associations and selection efficiency in twenty-three groundnut genotypes. Kernel traits varied widely, with 100-kernel weight (25-38 g), sound mature kernel (SMK) weight (23-35 g) and SMK percentage (86-95%). Pod yield (3314-4970 kg ha-1) and kernel yield (2156-2967 kg ha-1) also showed considerable variability. Kernel yield exhibited a strong positive association and high direct effect on pod yield, indicating its usefulness as a selection criterion, although negative correlations with quality traits suggested a trade-off between yield and quality traits. Principal component analysis showed that the first three components explained 66.04% of total variation with PC1 alone contributing 30.29%. The genotypes K-9, K 2658, K 2660 and K 2659 with moderate yield and yield attributes, desirable oil content& protein content can be proposed as parents for developing high-quality and high-yielding groundnut cultivars.