Oxide dispersion-strengthened (ODS) ferritic steels are being considered as a potential candidate for core structural application in future fast reactors. The 9Cr ODS steel being ferritic–martensitic in the structure is easier to fabricate by conventional powder metallurgical route; however, these varieties of steel have poor corrosion resistance in boiling HNO 3 medium. To facilitate the closed nuclear cycle program, it is necessary to develop better corrosion resistance, irradiation resistance steel for the fast reactor clad application. In this context, the 18Cr ODS ferritic steel is found to be superior; however, these steels are difficult to fabricate. This study is an attempt toward a comparison of microstructure and microtexture of these two varieties of steels to understand the structure–property co-relation of the ODS ferritic steel during various stages of tube fabrication. Though the size distribution of the dispersoids in both varieties of steel is found to be similar, there exists a difference in the morphology of the ferrite grains of these two varieties of steel. The comparison of the microstructure reveals that the 9Cr ODS steel possesses a nearly equiaxed tempered martensitic structure as compared to the elongated bamboo-like ferrite structure in 18Cr ODS steel. The microtexture studies on both the steel reveal that 18Cr ODS steel possesses a strong α fiber texture and weak γ fiber texture, whereas 9Cr ODS steel clad tube possesses relatively weak both α and γ fiber texture. Since 9Cr steel undergoes γ (austenite) ↔ α (ferrite) phase transformation upon annealing, which is unlikely in the case of 18Cr ODS steel, as a result, it leads to difficulty in fabrication of 18Cr ODS steel as compared to 9Cr ODS steel.