In this work, Taguchi method is applied to determine the optimum process parameters for turning of AISI 304 austenitic stainless steel on CNC lathe. A Chemical vapour deposition (CVD) coated cemented carbide cutting insert is used which is produced by DuratomicTM technology of 0.4 and 0.8 mm nose radii. The tests are conducted at four levels of Cutting speed, feed and depth of cut. The influence of these parameters are investigated on the surface roughness and material removal rate (MRR). The Analysis Of Variance (ANOVA) is also used to analyze the influence of cutting parameters during machining. The results revealed that cutting speed significantly (46.05%) affected the machined surface roughness values followed by nose radius (23.7%). The influence of the depth of cut (61.31%) in affecting material removal rate (MRR) is significantly large. The cutting speed (20.40%) is the next significant factor. Optimal range and optimal level of parameters are also predicted for responses.