Recently developed pre-release and released rice hybrids were tested for their yield performance in comparison with recommended high yielding cultivars for three years at Palem during the kharif [monsoon] seasons in sandy clay loam soil. The hybrids produced more panicles m^-2 and filled grains per panicle than conventional cultivars. The mean grain yield of the best performing rice hybrids (MTUHR 2008, 2020, 2015, 2002, 2018, 2003 and 2021) was 37.7% higher than the conventional cv. IR-64 during 1993, while in 1995 the maximum yield of rice hybrid MTUHR 2037 was 10.3, 17.4 and 31.1% higher than that of comparison cultivars Chaitanya, BPT 5204 and Tellahamsa, respectively. The mean grain yield of rice hybrids during 1996 was 23.7 and 26.0% higher than BPT 5204 and Tellahamsa, respectively.