A study was conducted for development of the captive broodstock of Asian catfish, Clarias batrachus and protocol for the cryopreservation of the spermatozoa. The brooders were fed with commercial fish pellet feed twice a day. Spermatozoa of C. batrachus were cryopreserved for a period of 56 days in liquid nitrogen. In this study, the colour of the milt was creamy white uniformly in all the conditions. The mean pH of milt was 8.12±0.074 and the average sperm density was 6.74±0.147x108 nos/ml of milt. The mean percentage of live spermatozoa was 78.69±2.084 in the milt. Five different extenders such as NaCl (0.6 %), TRIS, BWW, HBSS, MCM, with two different cryoprotectants such as glycerol and DMSO at 10% were evaluated for their suitability in preserving spermatozoa of C. batrachus. Out of the five extenders studied, NaCl (0.6 %) was found to be the best for spermatozoa cryopreservation based on the post thaw motility percentage (72.6±4.2). Glycerol at 10% concentration with NaCl (0.6%) gave the maximum post-thaw motility duration (166±7 sec) when compared with DMSO at 10%. The frozen spermatozoa were thawed at different thawing temperatures (25, 30, 35 and 40°C) and thawing at a temperature of 25°C gave the maximum post-thaw motility rate. The average fertilization rate with control spermatozoa was 33.46±1.74%. Out of five extenders, the highest fertilization rate with cryopreserved sperm in NaCl (23.66±1.25%) with 10% glycerol. The average hatching rate of C. batrachus eggs with control spermatozoa was 30.3±2.03% and with cryopreserved spermatozoa the highest hatching rate with cryopreserved sperm in NaCl (23.66±1.25%) with 10% glycerol.