Epalrestat an aldose reductase inhibitor is used in the treatment of diabetic peripheral neuropathy. A simple, sensitive, precise and accurate RP-HPLC method for determination of epalrestat both as a bulk drug and in pharmaceutical formulation is developed and validated as per the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guidelines. Chromatographic separation is achieved using Qualisil C₈ column, detection at 294 nm and mixture of  methanol: (0.01M) potassium dihydrogen phosphate ( 75:25 v/v), pH adjusted to  4.5  with ortho-phosphoric acid as mobile phase.  A typical retention time for eparlestat is 6.64 ± 0.02 min. Linearity is observed in concentration range of 2 – 12 μg.mL^-1 with coefficient correlation (r² = 0.999). The % RSD value for intra-day and inter-day precision was found to be in the range of 0.32 - 0.79 % and 0.12 -1.32 %. The mean % recovery was found to be in the range of 99.47 - 100.30 %. The low values of LOD (0.15 µg) and LOQ (0.46 µg) indicate high sensitivity of the method. The % RSD value for robustness and ruggedness studies is found to be less than 2 %. The amount of drug estimated is found to be in good agreement with label claim. The developed method can routinely be used for analysis of epalrestat in pharmaceutical formulations.