The objective of this study was to study the extent of genetic variability for physiological traits under intermittent drought stress conditions. A factorial experiment in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with two replications was conducted at University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad during summer 2012-13 and summer 2013-14 where the two water regimes of well watered (WW) and water stress (WS) conditions were assigned as Factor A, whereas the genotypes (2 parents + 299 RILS + 8 checks) were considered as Factor B. Data were recorded for physiological traits consisting of relative water content (RWC), specific leaf area (SLA) and SPAD chlorophyll meter reading (SCMR) at different stages after stress imposition. Low PCV and GCV were recorded by all the physiological traits measured at all stages during both the seasons indicating low genetic variation in the population and difference between PCV and GCV for this traits indicated prevalence of environment on these traits during both the seasons. RWC at 30 days after stress (DAS) and SLA at 7 DAS had moderate to high heritability and genetic advance as per cent of mean, indicating that selection for the drought tolerance based on RWC could be affective at later stages of intermittent stress while based on SLA could be affective only at early stages.