With a record single-day surge of 55,078 infections, India's Covid-19 caseload raced past 16 lakh on Friday, just two days after it reached the 15-lakh mark, while the number of recoveries rose to 10,57,805, according to Union health ministry data.

The country has so far registered 16,38,870 instances of the coronavirus infection. The death toll increased to 35,747 with 779 fatalities being reported in 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed.

This is the second consecutive day that Covid-19 cases have increased by more than 50,000. The total number of confirmed cases also includes foreigners.

There are 5,45,318 active Covid-19 cases in the country. The recovery rate rose to 64.54 per cent while the fatality rate dropped further to 2.18 per cent.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a cumulative 1,88,32,970 samples have been tested up to July 30 with 6,42,588 being examined on Thursday.

Of the 779 deaths reported on Friday, 266 were from Maharashtra, 97 from Tamil Nadu, 83 from Karnataka, 68 from Andhra Pradesh and 57 from Uttar Pradesh.

West Bengal registered 46 deaths, Delhi 29, Gujarat 22, Jammu and Kashmir 17, Madhya Pradesh 14 and Rajasthan and Telangana 13 each.

Ten fatalities have been reported from Odisha, nine from Punjab, five from Jharkhand, four each from Bihar, Haryana, Manipur and Uttarakhand, three each from Goa and Chhattisgarh, two each from Assam, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Kerala while Ladakh and Puducherry recorded one fatality each.

Manipur has for the first time reported Covid-19 fatalities.

Among the 35,747 deaths reported till now, Maharashtra accounts for the maximum 14,728 fatalities, followed by Delhi with 3,936 deaths, Tamil Nadu 3,838, Gujarat 2,418, Karnataka 2,230, Uttar Pradesh 1,587, West Bengal 1,536, Andhra Pradesh 1,281 and Madhya Pradesh 857.

So far, 663 people have died of Covid-19 in Rajasthan, 505 in Telangana, 417 in Haryana, 370 in Punjab, 365 in Jammu and Kashmir, 282 in Bihar, 169 in Odisha, 103 in Jharkhand, 94 in Assam, 76 in Uttarakhand and 70 in Kerala.

Chhattisgarh has registered 51 deaths, Puducherry 48, Goa 42, Tripura 21, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh 14 each, Ladakh seven, Meghalaya and Nagaland five each, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Manipur four each, Arunachal Pradesh three, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu two and Sikkim one.

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

"Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research," the ministry said, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.