NOVELTY - Preparation of nicorandil (I), involves: (a) condensing methyl nicotinate with ethanolamine, adding an organic solvent to the reaction mixture, gradually cooling and maintaining the mixture at a specified temperature range; (b) nitrating N-(2-hydroxyethyl)nicotinamide (II) with nitric acid; (c) adding an organic solvent to the reaction mixture of step (b) and stirring the mixture; (d) dissolving nicorandil nitrate salt (III) in water, charcoalizing the formed solution and adjusting the pH of the solution; and (e) dissolving the crude (I) in an alcohol and recrystallizing.    USE - The process is useful for the preparation of nicorandil (I) (claimed), which is useful as a vasodilatory drug to treat various types of angina pectoris. No biological data given.    ADVANTAGE - The process provides (I) with a HPLC purity of more that 99.7% in a simple, environmentally-friendly, economical and industrial manner.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - Preparation of nicorandil of formula (I), involves: (a) condensing methyl nicotinate with ethanolamine at 35-80 degrees C for 4-6 hours, adding an organic solvent to the reaction mixture, gradually cooling to 0-5 degrees C and maintaining at 0-5 degrees C for 1-2 hours to yield N-(2-hydroxyethyl)nicotinamide of formula (II) having a HPLC purity of more than 99%; (b) nitrating (II) with 70% of nitric acid in presence of acetic anhydride at 0-30 degrees C for 1-3 hours; (c) adding an organic solvent to the reaction mixture of step (b) and stirring the mixture at 25-30 degrees C for 1-2 hours to yield nicorandil nitrate salt of formula (III) having a HPLC purity of more than 99%; (d) dissolving (III) in water, charcoalizing the formed solution and adjusting the pH of the solution to 6.5-7 using a weak base comprising alkali metal carbonates or alkali metal bicarbonates to yield crude (I) having a HPLC purity of more than 99%; and (e) dissolving the crude (I) in an alcohol and recrystallizing by addition of water to yield crystals of (I) having a HPLC purity of more than 99.7%.