Hexavalent chromium is highly toxic, carcinogenic and non-biodegradable element that persists for long time in the environment and expensive to clean up via conventional methods. So, innovative, eco-friendly and cost-effective strategies are needed urgently. In this study, we investigated the potential of reduction, biosorption and bioaccumulation of Cr (VI) by metal resistant bacteria isolated from effluent water. From six screened Cr (VI) resistant bacterial isolates, BHR1 served as most efficient isolate with resistance up to 500 mg L-1 Cr (VI) concentration and identified as Bacillus thuringenesis based on 16S rRNA sequencing. In culture media, the relative chromium bioremediation potential was 88.3%, but in effluent water, it was 76.3% after 120h incubation. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and elemental mapping analysis confirmed the Cr (VI) reduction and adsorption ability of BHR1 strain. Detection of chromium resistant genes (chrA and chrB) suggested that Cr (VI) extrusion also could be a mechanism that allowed this strain to tolerate high metal concentration. The presence of chromate reductase enzymatic activity in cell wall fraction indicates the reduction ability of the strain. Moreover, this strain was found to have plant growth promoting (PGP) traits and showed beneficial effects on plant growth under metal stress conditions which suggests the possible application of the isolate in phytoremediation.