The present investigation entitled “Role of osmolytes in maintaining water balance and photosynthesis under drought and heat in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)” was conducted at Research Farm & labolatory of Department of Plant Physiology (Division of Basic Science), Indian Institute of Pulses Research (IIPR), Kalyanpur, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. During the rabi season 2015-16.The chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) various physiological traits which are essential for its adaptation to drought or water limiting environments. Among those, osmotic adjustment is considered to be one of the important traits conferring tolerance to terminal drought. The present study is aimed to investigate the role of osmotic adjustment in improving the water relation characteristics and maintaining photosynthesis under severe water stress. The 10 advanced breeding lines (ABLs) [C-7, C-8, C-9(M-51), C-11(M-86), C-16(M-55), C-19(M-93), C-20(M-39), C-21, C-214, C-235] derived from high and low osmotic adjustment (OA) were used for the experiments. The results showed varied degree of OA in the test genotypes in response to drought. The high osmotic adjustment variety Tyson and low OA Kaniva (ABLs) and other physiological traits along with high yielding varieties DCP 92-3 (heat sensitive) and JG 14 (heat tolerant) both of which are lacking osmotic adjustment used as check showed improved photosynthesis under drought when analysis was done using chlorophyll fluorescence imaging. In addition higher OA retained greater water and chlorophyll retention when subjected to water stress either in field condition or polyethylene glycol (PEG) 6000 induced drought. The solute accumulation in the leaves under water stress in this investigation proved to play vital role in mining water from deep soil. The experiment also showed positive results when heat and drought combindly imposed.