The Department of Geology, established in 1954, is the cradle of geology education in Odisha. The Department of Geology is housed in a building reminiscent of the Victorian era, constructed from a grant provided by Shri Biju Pattnaik, former Chief Minister of Odisha, and former Union Cabinet Minister of India, from out of the Kalinga Foundation. The Department of Geology offers courses in Undergraduate, Postgraduate and Ph.D. levels. The thrust areas of research in the department include ore and mineral characterization, mineral engineering, mineral exploration, groundwater hydrology, igneous petrology, geochemistry and GIS-remote sensing. Presently, ten Ph.D. scholars are working in the Department. The department has seen a sea change in laboratory facilities augmented through generous funding from the University Grants Commission, New Delhi, and DST-FIST grant from the Ministry of Science and Technology, New Delhi. A DST- FIST grant of rupees 1crore 35 lakhs was received by the department.

The Department boasts of twenty-four high-end student petrological microscopes (Olympus, Japan made), two trinocular research microscopes and one stereo zoom microscope (Olympus, Japan made), one research trinocular microscope and one stereo zoom microscope (Leica, Germany made). The
department has Ion-chromatograph (Thermo Fischer, U.S.A.), X-ray Diffractometer (Rigaku, Japan made) facilities. There is a GIS-RS laboratory having 20 desktops equipped with GIS softwares. A geological museum is the window to the past and is the backbone of any institution imparting education in geology.

The Department of Geology has a well-equipped museum rich in its diversity of geological specimens, including rocks, minerals, ores,
gemstones, and various models of geological events. Fossils, the remnants of ancient life forms belonging to various periods of the geologic past, are on display. Gemstones from Odisha like ruby, sapphire, emerald, garnet, moonstone, amethyst, and many such stones adorn the museum. The Department of Geology also has a Rock Garden which is perhaps the only of its kind in the state of Odisha. The Department is offering consultancy services in the field of ore characterization and quality assessment to various public and private sector organizations viz., Odisha Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd (OMECL), Directorate of Geology, Govt. of Odisha, Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC), MGM and Essar Minmet.