India’s groundbreaking deal with publishers guarantees free access to 13,000 magazines
Indian scientists and students will get unprecedented access to nearly 13,000 scientific journals under a landmark deal announced by the Indian government. Beginning January 1, 2025, the One Nation One Subscription program will provide an estimated 18 million students, educators and researchers with free access to leading paywall journals through a unified platform. According to official reports, this initiative aims to transform access to academic resources across India’s 6,300 government-funded institutions.
Largest global subscription deal completed
Reports indicate that the three-year deal, negotiated with 30 major publishers such as Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and others, will cost India around $715 million. This amount exceeds the $200 million that publicly funded institutions spent annually on subscriptions as of 2018, as noted by Devika Madalli, director of the Information and Library Network Center. However, Madalli stated in Science that the agreement covers more journals and benefits more readers, making it cost-effective.
Benefits for underfunded institutions highlighted
In an interview with Science, Aniket Sule of the Homi Bhabha Center for Science Education expressed optimism about the plan and highlighted its impact on underfunded institutions. He explained that universities and colleges that lack resources for diverse journal subscriptions would now have access to a wider range of academic materials. Institutions with specialized plans could expand their reach beyond discipline-specific resources, he added.
Concerns about costs and open access strategies
According to sources, the deal has been criticized by proponents of alternative publishing models. Sridhar Gutam, a scientist at the ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research and founder of Open Access India, expressed concerns in Science about the high costs and suggested that the money would be better allocated to research infrastructure. Gutam also emphasized the need to adopt the diamond open-access model, which eliminates fees for authors and readers.
Inclusion of open access fees is under review
According to reports, part of the agreement will cover article processing fees (APCs), allowing authors to publish open access articles for free. Rahul Siddharthan of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences pointed out in Science that APCs, which cost an average of $2,000 per article worldwide, are unaffordable for many Indian scientists.
This deal is seen as a step towards bridging the gap in access to academic publishing, although calls for long-term systemic reforms in scientific publishing continue to arise.
