Minimum quantity lubrication technology is emerging as a potential alternative to flood cooling to effectively control cutting temperature during machining. In this study, an in-house developed minimum quantity lubrication delivery system has been used for minimum quantity lubrication delivery of cutting fluid at the machining zone. An advanced nanofluid coolant was also used for the purpose of minimum quantity lubrication. Different methods have been attempted to measure the near tool-tip temperature during turning of AISI 4140 steel with multi-layered coated insert under dry, flood cooled and minimum quantity lubrication cooled condition. It was further attempted to identify the best technique for assessing near tool-tip temperature. Infrared thermography has shown the closest result to that obtained through a finite element analysis (DEFORM 3D^™) simulation. Potential of multi-walled carbon nanotube–based nanofluid in minimum quantity lubrication application has been thoroughly investigated in this case study, where high-speed turning of AISI 4140 steel was carried out by a multi-layered coated carbide insert. Design of experiments, based on Taguchi method, was used to find out the significance of cutting parameters on machinability under nanofluid environment. Multi-walled carbon nanotube–based nanofluid was found to outperform the rest in all conditions.