The net rice production of the Kerala state is far less than its requirement and the area of rice cultivation is decreasing year after year. The major rice production areas of Kerala is under the threat of salinity intrusion and the salt affected coastal regions produce very low rice yield. Therefore, there is an immediate requirement to transform the popular high yielding rice varieties of Kerala into saline tolerant to keep the rice production from decline. In this study,Saltol, a major QTL which imparts salinity tolerance was introgressed into Jyothi a popular mega rice variety of Kerala, through Marker Assisted Selection. Screening at the seedling and reproductive stages showed the backcross inbred lines (BILs) developed are tolerant to salinity stress. Red and white grained plants developed in this study can be used according to the social preferences of grain color.