- More than 11.3 crore research articles were downloaded in India in 2025 under ONOS
- IIT Madras led with 40.3 lakh downloads, followed by IISc Bengaluru with 28.3 lakh
- ONOS provides access to 30 major international publishers’ journals nationwide
New Delhi: Within a year of its launch, more than 11.3 crore scholarly research articles were downloaded across India in 2025 under the Centre's One Nation One Subscription (ONOS) initiative, averaging nearly one crore downloads every month by students, faculty members and researchers of government institutions, according to official data.
Among premier institutions, IIT Madras recorded the highest number of downloads at 40.3 lakh, followed by IISc Bengaluru with 28.3 lakh downloads during January-December 2025.
The scheme, approved by the Union Cabinet in November 2024 and launched on January 1, 2025, provides nationwide access to international scholarly journals and research publications for higher education institutions and research organisations across the country. Nearly Rs 6,000 crore has been allocated for the scheme, which is approved for the calendar years 2025 to 2027.
The initiative currently provides access to journals published by 30 major international publishers, covering a wide range of disciplines and making global research literature accessible across the country.
Institutions With Highest Usage
Several central universities also recorded significant usage, including Banaras Hindu University (15.3 lakh downloads), Delhi University (14.2 lakh) and Jawaharlal Nehru University (7.3 lakh). Other institutions with notable access levels include the Institute of Chemical Technology (6.7 lakh), Pondicherry University (6.4 lakh), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai (6.3 lakh), and the Central University of Punjab (6.2 lakh).
Among state universities, Anna University recorded 7.8 lakh downloads, followed by Punjab University (7.4 lakh) and Jadavpur University (7.1 lakh). Other institutions include Mahatma Gandhi University (5.8 lakh), Cochin University of Science and Technology (5.5 lakh), Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (5.3 lakh), Calcutta University (5.2 lakh) and the University of Madras (4.1 lakh).
Usage Patterns
Among publishers, Elsevier's ScienceDirect recorded the highest usage with 4.4 crore downloads, accounting for 37 per cent of total access in 2025.
This was followed by Springer with 2.2 crore downloads (18 per cent), American Chemical Society with 1.4 crore (12 per cent), Wiley with 1.1 crore (9 per cent), Taylor & Francis with 80 lakhs (6 per cent) and IEEE with 60 lakh downloads (5 per cent).
Before And After ONOS
Earlier, 10 separate government library consortia collectively subscribed to 8,100 journals and served roughly 55 lakh users. Under ONOS, institutions can now access more than 13,000 journals through a unified national subscription, substantially widening research resources available to academic communities.
The number of beneficiaries has nearly doubled to about one crore students, faculty members, and researchers. The number of participating higher education institutions has also grown from around 2,300 earlier to nearly 5,800 under the scheme.
The consolidation has also changed the funding structure. Earlier, the combined annual spending across multiple consortia was about Rs 850 crore. Under ONOS, the government now spends about Rs 1,800 crore annually to provide nationwide access through a single subscription framework.
Under the programme, the central government directly pays publishers, enabling students, faculty, and researchers to access journals free of cost, without institutions or state departments having to bear subscription expenses.
Access And Publishing Support
The journals are accessible through a unified national portal (onos.gov.in) coordinated by the Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET) Centre, an autonomous inter-university centre of the University Grants Commission. Institutions can access journals through IP-based on-campus access or through remote login for off-campus use.
The scheme also supports Article Processing Charges (APC) for publishing research papers in over 430 high-quality gold open-access journals. Researchers whose articles have been accepted for publication in these journals can apply for APC funding through the ONOS portal.
The scheme aims to make high-impact global research literature widely accessible, including to students and researchers in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, encouraging both core and interdisciplinary research across the country.