Proteases belonging to class 3 of hydrolases are very important enzymes produced by many living organisms. These enzymes perform many biological and physiological functions. Serine alkaline proteases (SAPs) are proteases that consist of serine residue in their catalytic triad. Both submerged and solid state fermentation can be used for their production. There are certain parameters that need to be optimized for successful and increased production of enzymes. The optimum pH range for production of SAP is 7-10 but some microorganisms require highly alkaline pH (greater than 10). However, the incubation temperature used for production of SAP can vary form organism to organism. An incubation period of 24-72 hours is usually required by microorganisms for production of SAP, but some microorganisms also have been reported to produce SAPs after incubation of 7-10 days. Agro-industrial wastes such as wheat bran, soybean meal, sugarcane bagasse and molasses etc. can be used as cheap sources of carbon and nitrogen for production of SAPs. These alkaline proteases are environmentally friendly as compared to chemical methods and thus have a wide variety of industrial applications that include leather industry, silk degumming, detergent industry, medical industry, food industry, recovery of silver from photographic films and waste management etc.