Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the initiative of the University Grants Commission of India in setting up the Infonet Digital Library Consortium (The Information and Library Network) in order to provide access to scholarly communication to the academic community in India. Design/methodology/approach: The context of higher education in India and the expansion and establishment of universities under the five-year plan is given along with details of e-resources that are being provided. The usage trends of e-resources from various publishers during 2004-2007 are detailed. Findings: The paper finds that there has been a qualitative increase in overall usage, but use is also dependent on a high-bandwidth connection. Originality/value: The study provides evidence of increased use of consortial services for access to e-resources in Indian higher education.