Heavy metal contamination in soil and water poses a threat to food chain safety and human health being toxic to humans and other living beings even at low concentrations.Heavy metal-resistant bacteria possessingplant growth-promoting (PGP) propertiesare used in heavy metal-contaminated soils to ameliorate heavy metals and improve plant growth. These microorganisms utilize a variety of coping mechanismsto deal with heavy metal toxicity.This study aimed to identify multi-heavy metal-tolerant (multi-HMT) bacterial isolates from soil and groundwater samples across Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, India. The preliminary screeningshowed that 46 isolates were capable of tolerating six heavy metals at 1.5 mM concentration. The PGP traits of these multi-HMT bacterial isolates were evaluated and all isolates showed ammonia production. Many soil and water isolates (18% and 11%), exhibited five out of six direct PGP traits. The isolate CDS4, displayed all four indirect PGP traits, indicating its potential as a phytostimulator, biofertilizer and stress alleviator. Further studies to determine the agricultural and environmental application of multi-HMT isolates for promoting growth of different plantsmay indicate its application for sustainable agriculture.