Higher education in Commerce was first introduced in Orissa at G.M. College, Sambalpur and Rajendra College, Balangir in 1944. It was introduced in Khallikote College in year 1955. There was a public demand for opening of Commerce Stream in Ravenshaw College, Cuttack, and the Govt. of Orissa introduced I.Com classes in Ravenshaw College in 1957. Sri P.C. Ray and Sri R.K. Jena joined as lecturer and classes in Commerce started in the Arts Block. As Cuttack was the centre of all business activities, Commerce education gained popularity and the government of Odisha backed by strong public demand opened B.Com. classes in Ravenshaw College in 1959. More teachers were posed in Ravenshaw College and the course continued successfully till 1969, when Honours courses were introduced with 16 seats.

In 1969 the commerce classes were shifted to a new three storied building now known as the ‘Commerce Block’ whose construction was completed in 1970. The idea of a separate Commerce Block originated in the mind of a renowned businessman of Cuttack, Sri Ranglal Modi, who donated a sum of Rs. 1 lakh to the Govt. of Orissa for the purpose in 1959. As the Govt. took up the construction work at a later date the total cost came to Rs. 7 lakh for which the govt. decided to allow the building to three departments for better utilization of floor space during off commerce class hours.  So English and Economics departments were allotted one floor each in the said block as sister department of Commerce but the name of the block remained as Commerce Block.

Due to the popularity of Commerce education increase of seats in I.Com and B.Com classes were felt and Post Graduate class in Commerce was opened in 1977-78. Now the department is having 452 seats in B.Com (all Hons seats) and 64 seats in M.Com. Both B.Com Hons and M.Com are having four specialization branches. Accounting & Taxation, Financial Studies, Marketing Management & Human Resource Management as honours paper in UG stage and as a special paper in PG stage is available to the students. In 1991 M.Phil classes has been added to the department with 8 seats subsequently more 8 seats are added under self-financing mode. Highly meritorious students from all over Orissa and neighboring states like Bihar, Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand and West Bengal also consider this department as their first choice for admission. The department for its high standard of teaching and academic excellence was ranked sixth among the top ten institutions imparting Commerce education in the country by a survey conducted by India Today in 1997.During its long journey of about 60 years the department has been served by some of the eminent teachers of the state who have glorified the department by their contributions.