Economics at IIT Kanpur began in 1964 with a Ph.D. program offered from within the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS). The Ph.D. program performed well and no new program was floated for the next three decades. However, the growth of the Indian economy created a demand for Economics undergraduates, who could perform data analysis, build econometric models as well as interpret them within the context of Economics. To meet this demand, the Economics group in 2005 started a 5 year M.Sc. program in Economics. To give additional flexibility and an earlier exit route to students, in 2011 the 5 year M.Sc. program was transformed to a 4 year B.S. in Economics with an optional 1 year M.S. in Economics. Starting from the 2023-24 academic year, a 2-year M.Sc. in Economics program will also be launched.

Since its beginning, the Economics (M.Sc. and later B.S. /M.S.) program has enjoyed immense popularity and the performance of the students have been stellar both in higher education and job market. Our students have got to admissions to the Economics Ph.D. program at several world class institutions including University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, University of Wisconsin (Madison), University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), University of Toronto, Washington University (St. Louis) and Tilburg University. Many students went ahead to pursue M.S. in Economics at places such as Columbia University, Yale University, Cornell University, London School of Economics and Barcelona Graduate School of Economics. In the job market, the Economics students have found positions in all top corporate organizations and consulting firms. In the 2021-22 placement season, nearly 90% of students accepted campus placements. Based on the average salary parameter, the Economics students are only second to students of the Department of Computer Science.

Economics at IITK was re-born with the formation of the Department of Economic Sciences on May 6th, 2017. With such a remarkable history of Economics at IITK, the Department of Economic Sciences will continue to evolve and scale new heights in the future. We invite you to join the ride, either as a student or as a faculty!