IIT Madras Leads as India’s National Research Access Scheme Surpasses 11 Crore Downloads

New Delhi: Within just a year of its launch, the Centre’s One Nation One Subscription (ONOS) initiative has significantly boosted access to academic resources, with over 11.3 crore scholarly research articles downloaded across India in 2025. This translates to an average of nearly one crore downloads per month by students, faculty, and researchers in government institutions, according to official data.

Among top institutions, IIT Madras led with 40.3 lakh downloads, followed by IISc Bengaluru at 28.3 lakh between January and December 2025.

Approved by the Union Cabinet in November 2024 and rolled out on January 1, 2025, the ONOS scheme offers nationwide access to international journals and research publications for higher education and research institutions. The government has allocated nearly ₹6,000 crore for the initiative, covering the period from 2025 to 2027. Currently, it provides access to journals from 30 leading global publishers across diverse disciplines.

Institutions with High Usage

Several central universities reported strong usage figures, including Banaras Hindu University (15.3 lakh downloads), Delhi University (14.2 lakh), and Jawaharlal Nehru University (7.3 lakh). Other notable contributors 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 topped the list with 7.8 lakh downloads, followed by Punjab University (7.4 lakh) and Jadavpur University (7.1 lakh). Additional institutions with significant usage 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 TrendsElsevier’s ScienceDirect emerged as the most accessed platform, accounting for 4.4 crore downloads or 37% of total usage in 2025. It was followed by Springer (2.2 crore, 18%), American Chemical Society (1.4 crore, 12%), Wiley (1.1 crore, 9%), Taylor & Francis (80 lakh, 6%), and IEEE (60 lakh, 5%).

Before and After ONOS

Prior to ONOS, ten separate government library consortia subscribed to around 8,100 journals, serving approximately 55 lakh users. With ONOS, access has expanded to over 13,000 journals under a single national subscription, benefiting nearly one crore users.

The number of participating institutions has risen sharply from about 2,300 to nearly 5,800. Annual government spending has also increased—from ₹850 crore under multiple consortia to around ₹1,800 crore under the unified system. Importantly, the central government now directly pays publishers, allowing institutions and users to access journals free of cost.

Access and Research Support

The resources are available through a unified portal managed by the INFLIBNET Centre under the University Grants Commission. Users can access journals both on-campus via IP authentication and remotely through login credentials.

Additionally, the scheme supports Article Processing Charges (APC) for publishing in over 430 high-quality open-access journals. Researchers with accepted papers can apply for funding through the ONOS portal.

Overall, the initiative is transforming access to global research, particularly benefiting students and scholars in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, and fostering both core and interdisciplinary research across India.