The field experiment was conducted to study the growth performance and agrometeorological indices of rice for cultivars i.e. PR 122, PR 126 and Pusa 44 grown under direct seeded rice (DSR) and puddled transplanted rice (PTR) conditions during kharif 2020 and 2021 at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. Results revealed that the accumulated growing degree days (AGDD), accumulated helio-thermal units (AHTU) and accumulated photo thermal units (APTU) were higher in PTR than DSR, while radiation use efficiency (RUE) was higher in DSR in terms of dry matter production and in terms of grain yield RUE was higher in PTR. Heat use efficiency (HUE) was also higher in DSR. AGDD, AHTU and APTU were also higher in Pusa 44, however, RUE and HUE were higher in PR 126 in terms of grain yield and dry matter. Among nitrogen levels, N3 (Leaf colour chart-based nitrogen application) gives at par yield with N1 (Recommended) and N2 (125 % of recommended). Optimum nitrogen level is helpful to get higher light interception rate and RUE while HUE was highest in N2 followed by N1 and N3.