Background The global burden of diabetes and its related complications is growing at an unprecedented level. India has the highest no of diabetics in the world. Various modalities of treatment are being explored to retard the progression of the disease apart from the traditional hypoglycemic agents. Newer theories have tried to link elements like magnesium and Vitamin D to the glucose metabolism. This study tries to associate deficiency of magnesium levels with the risk of diabetes mellitus. Objectives To compare the levels of serum magnesium in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and normal healthy individuals and a correlation of these values with the glycemic control. Materials and Methods It is an observational study done comparing the magnesium levels in 50 patients with diabetes with 50 matched healthy individuals. Results The mean FBS levels among cases and controls were 230. __ampersandsignplusmn;17.8 mg/dl and 99.42__ampersandsignplusmn;25.4 mg/dl respectively. The mean serum magnesium levels among diabetic group and control group were 1.67__ampersandsignplusmn;0.37 mg/dl and 2.03__ampersandsignplusmn;0.25 respectively, the difference being statistically significant (p__ampersandsignlt;0.01). Among the diabetic group the mean serum creatinine levels among those with controlled and uncontrolled group were 0.93__ampersandsignplusmn;0.56 mg/dl and 1.33__ampersandsignplusmn;0.29 mg/dl respectively. There was statistically significant (p__ampersandsignlt;0.01) difference between controlled and uncontrolled diabetes group with respect to serum creatinine levels. Conclusion This study revealed a definite lowering of serum magnesium in diabetic patients and the levels are inversely proportional to the level of glycemic control. Magnesium levels are further lower in patients with diabetic complications. Key words: Hypomagnesemia, diabetes mellitus, glycemic control