The Department of Chemical Engineering at IIT Bombay was started in 1958, with assistance from the erstwhile Soviet Union under a UNESCO aid scheme. Today, the department is recognized as a leading Chemical Engineering Department in India. The Department offers B.Tech, Dual Degree (B. Tech. + M. Tech and M.Tech. + Ph.D.), M. Tech. and Ph.D. degree programs and has more than 50 faculty who work in diverse research areas.
The Department has extensive experimental and computational facilities, through funding from Government and Industry. The Department attracts significant funding through government funding agencies and also has strong interaction with Industry. Several faculty provide service by way of consultancy projects and continuing education courses in many areas of Chemical Engineering.
Historically, the Department had a diverse presence in different research areas of traditional Chemical Engineering. Over time, the Department has strongly diversified into emerging areas such as biotechnology, energy and sustainability, along with data-driven approaches to problem solving. This is also reflected in the evolution of the curriculum offered in the academic programs of the Department.