The Department of Chemistry was established in the year 1966 as a Pre-University Course (PUC). Presently, it is one of the potential departments in the college with rich research culture, offering UG, PG, M.Phil. and Ph.D. programmes with 578 students, 28 research scholars and 33 faculty members.

The B.Sc. Chemistry programme was introduced in 1972 and M.Sc. Chemistry in 1988 under Aided stream and the pinnacle was reached when Ph.D. programme was introduced in 1992. The Self-Financed wing of Chemistry Department was established with B.Sc. Chemistry in 1996, M.Sc. in 2006 and M.Phil. Chemistry in 2011.

The curriculum has been designed to provide sound education in the fundamental and frontier areas of chemistry to produce quality chemists. A broader outlook of the programmes includes greener laboratory practices, hands-on training, activity & project-based learning and beyond class-room activities such as summer schools, internships, industrial visits, etc. The department adopts best Teaching-Learning practices, Co-curricular and Extra-Curricular activities through an efficient academic management system, that help students to grow and upscale, fulfilling the vision and mission of the department and of the institution.

The department was sponsored by DST-FIST, Government of India during 2007-2012 (Rs. 58 L) and is presently under DBT-STAR scheme, Government of India since 2016. Infrastructural facilities that support high end research and learning have been established in the department with four well equipped laboratories and four major instruments (UV-Visible & FTIR- Spectrophotometers, Electrochemical Analyzer and HPLC). So far, the department has completed 47 research projects funded by agencies like DST, DST-WoS, DBT, UGC, UBCHEA, RGNDWM, TNSCST, ICMR and CSIR with the total grant of 2.40 Crore. PG students and scholars receive research fellowship from agencies like UGC, RGNF, TNSCST, CSIR and ICMR. Every year, few of our students and faculty members undertake various exchange programmes with reputed institutes in India and Abroad.

The department has a well-established research wing with currently 12 research supervisors. The department produced 50 Ph.D. and 72 M.Phil. so far. To its credit, the 3 faculty members have been awarded with patents and the faculty members have published 294 research articles in peer reviewed journals in Web of Sciences, Scopus and UGC-CARE with a highest Impact Factor of 6.02, Citation of 334 and h-index of 19. The Department has received Best Department Award from the management of Bishop Heber College for the past four consecutive years.

The department has established research collaborations with King Saudi University, Saudi Arabia, University Sains Malaysia, Malaysia, University of Pittsburg, USA, National Taipei University of Technology, Taiwan, Chounbuk National University, South Korea, Shizuoka University, Japan and Kaohsiung Medical University, Taiwan.

In 2019, the department has launched an Incubation Centre cum Entrepreneur Cell - "Heber Hygiene Enterprises (HHy)" that manufactures Hygiene products and caters to the needs of the management of Bishop Heber College and sister institutions.