India’s ambitious One Nation One Subscription (ONOS) initiative has marked a significant milestone in its first year, with more than 11.3 crore research articles accessed by students, faculty, and researchers across government institutions in 2025.
According to data released by the Ministry of Education, IIT Madras emerged as the highest user, recording 40.3 lakh downloads, followed by IISc Bangalore with 28.3 lakh downloads. Among central universities, Banaras Hindu University (15.3 lakh) and Delhi University (14.2 lakh) were among the leading contributors.
Launched on January 1, 2025, after Union Cabinet approval in late 2024, ONOS is a central sector scheme aimed at democratizing access to global academic resources. The initiative enables users in government higher education and R&D institutions to access scholarly journals without individual subscription costs, with the government directly funding publishers.
Currently, the platform facilitates access to over 13,000 international journals, a significant increase from the earlier fragmented system that covered around 8,000 journals through multiple consortia. This consolidation into a single national subscription has streamlined access while expanding the breadth of available research.
The ONOS platform integrates publications from 30 major global publishers, including Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley, Taylor & Francis, IEEE, Oxford University Press, and Cambridge University Press. Among these, Elsevier’s ScienceDirect recorded the highest share, contributing 4.4 crore downloads (37%), followed by Springer (18%) and the American Chemical Society (12%).
On average, users are downloading nearly one crore research articles per month, indicating strong adoption across institutions. The scheme has also significantly expanded its reach, with the number of beneficiary users rising from 55 lakh earlier to nearly one crore, and participating institutions increasing from around 2,300 to nearly 5,800.
In terms of infrastructure, ONOS is operated through a centralized digital portal managed by the INFLIBNET Centre under the UGC, enabling both on-campus (IP-based) and remote access. Institutions lacking digital infrastructure can utilize federated access systems to ensure inclusivity.
The initiative also supports Indian researchers in publishing their work by offering Article Processing Charges (APC) support for over 430 high-quality open-access journals, thereby strengthening India’s global research presence.
Financially, the government has committed nearly ₹6,000 crore for the 2025–2027 period, with an annual outlay of approximately ₹1,800 crore—significantly higher than the earlier decentralized spending of ₹850 crore annually across different consortia.
Despite its scale, the scheme currently remains limited to government-run institutions and focuses exclusively on journal access, excluding books and other databases. However, interest from additional publishers such as the Royal Society of Chemistry and World Scientific indicates potential future expansion.
The ONOS initiative aligns with broader national goals under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, aiming to strengthen research ecosystems and improve equitable access, particularly for institutions in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.
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