A process for the production of steviosides from Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni includes extraction of comminuted plant material by directly injecting steam into the extractor followed by filtration to get aqueous extract and alkali treatment to remove unwanted compounds in the form of precipitate. The treated aqueous extracted was filtered and the filtrate was first treated with gel or macroporous strong acid cation exchange resin and then with gel or macroporous weak base anion exchange resin. The aqueous eluant containing steviosides was concentrated to obtain purified steviosides.