• Nanoporous NiO (x) ·ZnO (1−x) (x = 0–0.1) are prepared by sol-gel combustion method. • Effect of porosity on dielectric & magnetic property of NiO (x) ·ZnO (1−x) is detailed. • Magnetic property of samples is enhanced by increasing dopant content till x = 0.06. • Explanation for the origin of dielectric & magnetic properties are discussed. Nanoporous Ni doped ZnO is prepared in the configuration NiO (x) ·ZnO (1−x) (x = 0, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08 and 0.10) using sol-gel combustion technique. The crystal structure, morphology, elemental composition, magnetic and dielectric properties of NiO (x) ·ZnO (1−x) are determined from XRD, FE-SEM with EDX, VSM and LCRQ meter, respectively. XRD investigation confirms the presence of wurtzite hexagonal structure of ZnO in all the prepared samples. At low doping level of Ni, the crystal structure remains identical to ZnO meanwhile some structural imperfection is observed on increasing the doping concentration. FESEM images indicate the occurrence of nanopores distributed uniformly in the NiO (x) ·ZnO (1−x). Magnetic characteristics of the samples found enhanced with increasing dopant concentration till x = 0.06. The possible explanation for the origin of the dielectric and magnetic behaviours of NiO (x) ·ZnO (1−x) are discussed. Based on the obtained results, NiO (0.06) ·ZnO (0.94) is a suitable candidate for Diluted Magnetic Semiconductors for spintronic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]