The study is conducted for research funding and open access publications in Indian central universities and found only 14 central universities are ranked in National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2022. The data about research funding to the universities and open access (OA) research papers are extracted from the Web of Science citation database for analysis. It is found from the study that Banaras Hindu University (BHU) received maximum research funds from the funding agencies to the research activities; however, University of Delhi (DU) published the highest number of overall research as well as OA research publications. Department of Science and Technology (DST) is a top funding agency to the majority of the universities and also contribute to the most of the OA research publications. It is concluded that shares of OA research publications are not satisfying to the expectations as they received the public fund from the government funding agencies. Though, the public has the right to access the research publications produced from the research sponsored by the funding agencies. Funding agencies can play a vital role in promoting open access publishing through making a transparent open access policy and mandates. The study has significance for explaining the status of funding agencies and their funding to the research works and production of OA research publications in the central universities of India.