India added 1,32,788 new coronavirus infections taking the country's tally of COVID-19 cases to 2,83,07,832, while the daily positivity rate has further dropped to 6.57 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.

The COVID-19 death toll climbed to 3,35,102 with 3,207 fresh deaths.

The active cases were recorded below 20 lakh for the second consecutive day, the data updated at 8 am showed.

Also, 20,19,773 tests were conducted on Tuesday taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 35,00,57,330, while the daily positivity was recorded at 6.57 per cent. It has been less than 10 per cent for nine consecutive days, the ministry said.

The weekly positivity rate has declined to 8.21 per cent.

The active cases have reduced to 17,93,645 comprising 6.34 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 92.48 per cent.

A net decline of 1,01,875 cases has been recorded in the COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

Recoveries continue to outnumber daily new cases for the 20th consecutive day. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 2,61,79,085, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.18 per cent, the data stated.

India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. India crossed the grim milestone of 2 crore on May 4.

The 3,207 new fatalities include 854 from Maharashtra, 490 from Tamil Nadu, 464 from Karnataka, 194 from Kerala, 175 from Uttar Pradesh, 137 from West Bengal and 104 from Andhra Pradesh.

A total of 3,35,102 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 96,198 from Maharashtra, 29,554 from Karnataka, 24,722 from Tamil Nadu, 24,299 from Delhi, 20,672 from Uttar Pradesh, 15,678 from West Bengal, 14,649 from Punjab and 13,077 from Chhattisgarh.

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 on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.