High energy, high power (HEHP) Nd:glass laser systems are used for inertial confinement fusion and equation of state (EOS) studies of materials at high temperature and pressure. A program has been undertaken for the indigenous development of Nd-doped phosphate laser glass rods and discs for HEHP lasers. In this paper, we report the characterization of the Nd-doped phosphate laser glass rods produced under this program and compare the indigenously developed laser glass to LHG-8 laser glass of M/s Hoya, Japan. We experimentally measured the values of the stimulated emission cross-section (𝜎) and coefficient of intensity-dependent refractive index ($n_2$) and hence the figure of merit $F = \sigma/n_2$ of the indigenous phosphate laser glass rods. This value of figure of merit is found comparable to the reported value of identically doped Nd:glass rods.