In electric discharge machining (EDM), dielectric mixed with powder plays very important role and helps to attain superior machinability of engineering materials. In this paper, analysis and optimization of material removal rate (that represents process productivity) during powder-mixed dielectric based EDM of AISI 5160 steel is discussed.  Copper electrodes (as cathode) of 26 mm diameter and conductive copper powder 44 µm particle size have been used during machining. Taguchi L₉ orthogonal array based experimental study where voltage, peak current, and pulse duration have been varied at three levels each to analyze their effects on MRR. It is studied that MRR increased with increase in peak current and pulse duration. Optimum value of MRR (0.466 g/s) has been compared with the MRR obtained during normal EDM process.