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Many farmers’ incomes in developing countries depend on the cultivation of major crops grown in arid and semi-arid regions. The agricultural productivity of arid and semi-arid areas primarily relies on chemical fertilizers. The effectiveness of chemical fertilizers needs to improve by integration with other sources of nutrients. Plant growth-promoting bacteria can solubilize nutrients, increase plant nutrient uptake, and supplement chemical fertilizers. A pot experiment evaluated the promising plant growth-promoting bacterial strain’s effectiveness in promoting cotton growth, antioxidant enzymes, yield, and nutrient uptake. Two phosphate solubilizing bacterial strains (<i>Bacillus subtilis</i> IA6 and <i>Paenibacillus polymyxa</i> IA7) and two zinc solubilizing bacterial strains (<i>Bacillus</i> sp. IA7 and <i>Bacillus aryabhattai</i> IA20) were coated on cotton seeds in a single as well as co-inoculation treatments. These treatments were compared with uninoculated controls in the presence and absence of recommended chemical fertilizer doses. The results showed the co-inoculation combination of <i>Paenibacillus polymyxa</i> IA7 and <i>Bacillus aryabhattai</i> IA20 significantly increased the number of bolls, seed cotton yield, lint yield, and antioxidants activities, including superoxide dismutase, guaiacol peroxidase, catalase, and peroxidase. Co-inoculation combination of <i>Bacillus subtilis</i> IA6 and <i>Bacillus</i> sp. IA16 promoted growth attributes, including shoot length, root length, shoot fresh weight, and root fresh weight. This co-inoculation combination also increased soil nutrient content. At the same time, <i>Paenibacillus polymyxa</i> IA7 + <i>Bacillus aryabhattai</i> IA20 increased nutrient uptake by plant shoots and roots compared.