Pink stem borer Sesamia inferens (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a major pest of sugarcane and rice frequently controlled by the use of insecticides, including fipronil. This study focused on fipronil resistance characterization in S. inferens by selecting a population (called Fipro-SEL Pop) with fipronil for 14 generations. Fipro-SEL Pop population showed 106.00- and 22.71-fold resistance to fipronil when compared to unselected (UNSEL) and Field strains, respectively. Fipro-SEL strain showed no cross-resistance to chlorpyrifos, lambda-cyhalothrin and spinosad. Reciprocal crosses between Fipro-SEL and UNSEL strains revealed an autosomal and incompletely recessive nature of resistance to fipronil. The F1 and F1' showed similar LC50 values against fipronil and their dominance values were 0.46 and 0.53, respectively. Chi-square goodness of fit test suggested that fipronil resistance was polygenic. Realized heritability value was 0.25 for fipronil resistance. These outcomes would be useful for effective management of S. inferens.