The Centre’s One Nation One Subscription (ONOS) initiative has recorded over 11.3 crore research article downloads in 2025, reflecting strong usage across higher education institutions in India. The scheme, launched on 1 January 2025, aims to provide nationwide access to global academic resources. Official data shows that the platform averaged nearly one crore downloads per month by students, faculty members, and researchers from government institutions.
ONOS Scheme Overview and Key Features
The ONOS initiative was approved by the Union Cabinet in November 2024 and is being implemented for the period 2025 to 2027. The government has allocated around INR 6,000 crore for the programme. The scheme offers access to over 13,000 international journals published by 30 major global publishers, significantly expanding research resources available in India. Under this model, the central government directly pays publishers, allowing users to access journals free of cost without institutional subscription charges.
Top Institutions by Research Downloads in 2025
Several leading institutions recorded high usage under the ONOS platform during the year. Premier institutes and central universities accounted for a significant share of downloads. The following data highlights institutions with the highest usage.
|
Institution |
Downloads (2025) |
|
IIT Madras |
40.3 lakh |
|
IISc Bengaluru |
28.3 lakh |
|
Banaras Hindu University |
15.3 lakh |
|
Delhi University |
14.2 lakh |
|
Jawaharlal Nehru University |
7.3 lakh |
Other institutions with notable usage include the Institute of Chemical Technology (6.7 lakh), Pondicherry University (6.4 lakh), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (6.3 lakh), and Central University of Punjab (6.2 lakh).
State Universities and Wider Participation
State universities also showed strong participation under the ONOS initiative, indicating wider access beyond central institutions. The following universities reported significant download numbers.
- Anna University – 7.8 lakh downloads
- Punjab University – 7.4 lakh downloads
- Jadavpur University – 7.1 lakh downloads
- Mahatma Gandhi University – 5.8 lakh downloads
- Cochin University of Science and Technology – 5.5 lakh downloads
- Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University – 5.3 lakh downloads
- Calcutta University – 5.2 lakh downloads
- University of Madras – 4.1 lakh downloads
The scheme has expanded participation to nearly 5,800 higher education institutions, compared to around 2,300 earlier.
Publisher Usage and Access Trends
Among publishers, Elsevier’s ScienceDirect recorded the highest usage with 4.4 crore downloads, accounting for 37% of total access in 2025. Other major publishers included:
- Springer – 2.2 crore downloads (18%)
- American Chemical Society – 1.4 crore (12%)
- Wiley – 1.1 crore (9%)
- Taylor & Francis – 80 lakh (6%)
- IEEE – 60 lakh (5%)
These figures reflect strong demand for scientific and technical research resources across disciplines.
ONOS Impact on Research Access and Funding
Before ONOS, multiple government consortia subscribed to around 8,100 journals and served nearly 55 lakh users. With the new system, access has expanded to over 13,000 journals and nearly one crore users.
The funding structure has also changed significantly. Earlier, annual spending was about INR 850 crore across different consortia. Under ONOS, the government now spends approximately INR 1,800 crore annually to provide unified access.
The scheme is coordinated through the INFLIBNET Centre, which manages access via a national portal. Institutions can access journals through IP-based systems on campus or through remote login for off-campus usage.
Additionally, the initiative supports Article Processing Charges (APC) for publishing in over 430 open-access journals, enabling researchers to publish without financial barriers. The ONOS scheme is expected to strengthen research output in India by making high-quality global literature accessible, especially to institutions in tier-2 and tier-3 cities.
