Introduction: Cryptococcal neoformans is the most common opportunistic infection of the central nervous system in HIV patients. CNS Cryptococcosis commonly present with non-specific manifestations such as headache, fever, seizure and conscious disturbance. Current diagnostic techniques for Cryptococcosis include microscopic detection by India ink stain, gramstain techniques. Recently, the new ICT (Immunochromatographic test) is used to screen HIV-infected persons with CD4 counts of less than 100cells/μL . Aim: A Comparative study of Different Diagnostic Modalities, India Ink, Gram stain & ICT for the Detection of Cryptococcal meningitis among HIV - infected patients in a Tertiary Care Hospital at Kanpur. Material & Methods: This was a prospective cross-sectional study conducted in the Department of Microbiology & Department of Medicine from July 2022-April 2023 in Rama Medical College Hospital and Research Centre Kanpur. 50 CSF samples were collected from the patient’s suspected to have HIV with clinical feature of meningitis. The CSF samples were tested for Cryptococcus neoformans by India ink, Gram stain, and ICT. Result: Out of 50 CSF samples 31 were male and 19 were females. 4 (8.0%) were positive for Cryptococcus neoformans mostly in the age group of 30-40 years.All 4 were ICT positive, 3 were India ink stain positive, and 2 were gram stain positive. The sensitivity and specificity of ICT, India ink and gram stain were 99.0%,100%;75.0%%,100% and 50.0%,100% respectively. The PPV and NPV of ICT, India ink and gram stain were 99.0%,100%; 75.0%%,100% and 50.0% ,100% respectively. Conclusion: In our study the incidence of Cryptococcus neoformans was 8%. ICT is more effective method when compared to other conventional methods with higher sensitivity and specificity than the gram stain and India ink. Hence, the new ICT kit is rapid and relevant method for detection of Cryptococcus neoformans.