The central government on Wednesday (January 1) launched the One Nation, One Subscription (ONOS) initiative, a step to ensure world-class academic and research resources are accessible to all government-funded higher education institutions (HEIs) and research centers across India.
The ONOS scheme will benefit more than 1.8 crore students, faculty members and researchers from institutions such as IITs, universities and government-managed R&D centers. Approved by the Union Cabinet on November 25, 2024, ONOS aligns with India’s mission to foster innovation and elevate research standards across disciplines.
Empowering India’s academic ecosystem
“The goal is to equip India’s academic and research communities with the best global resources, fostering innovation and enhancing the quality of research,” stated an official release. The scheme will streamline access to premium journals and research databases, breaking geographical and financial barriers that have historically hindered equitable access to knowledge.
By creating a unified platform, ONOS will not only empower students and researchers in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities but also strengthen India’s R&D infrastructure.
What is ONOS?
ONOS is an initiative that consolidates subscriptions to academic journals, offering free and unified access to approximately 13,000 scholarly journals published by 30 international publishers. Around 18 million students, researchers and faculty members from government-funded higher education institutions, including the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), will benefit from this vast repository of knowledge.
Currently, access to academic journals is fragmented, managed by 10 separate library consortia under various ministries, alongside individual institutional subscriptions. ONOS aims to streamline this system by centralizing subscriptions under one national platform.
The scheme, coordinated by the Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET), an autonomous center under the University Grants Commission (UGC), has been allocated Rs 6,000 crore for its rollout during 2025-2027.
How will ONOS transform India’s research infra?
The One Nation, One Subscription initiative is set to revolutionise India’s academic and research environment by addressing critical gaps and creating a more inclusive and resourceful ecosystem.
ONOS will ensure comprehensive access to national and international journal publications for all government higher education institutions. This centralised approach eliminates overlapping subscriptions and streamlines resources for greater efficiency.
By consolidating subscriptions under a single national platform, the government gains stronger negotiating power with publishers, securing better deals and significantly reducing public expenditure.
ONOS will introduce an analytics-driven approach to resource management. By monitoring journal usage patterns across institutions, decision-makers can allocate resources more effectively and improve user experiences.
The initiative will democratise academic resources, bridging the gap for under-resourced institutions in rural and remote areas. This levels the playing field, enabling students and researchers from all backgrounds to access premium scholarly content.
In line with NEP 2020
The ONOS initiative aligns with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which calls research as a key driver of educational and national development. The NEP envisioned a robust expansion of India’s research capabilities to position the nation as a global knowledge leader.
In response, the government established the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) to oversee research funding and policy implementation. A core committee, chaired by the Principal Scientific Advisor, successfully negotiated agreements with major international publishers, enabling ONOS to take shape.