Since 1914, Economics had been a part of an umbrella department known as the Department of Economics, Political Science and Civics, which was then headed by Prof. A. E. Brown. This umbrella department was bifurcated in 1962, creating an independent Department of Economics. Prof. Ikramuddin Saikia was the first head of the independent department. In 1985, the department became a full-fledged post-graduate department under Gauhati University. The department is now one of the largest departments in Cotton University, offering PhD programme in economics in addition to the undergraduate and post-graduate courses.