India's COVID-19 infection tally rose by 10,302 in a day to reach 3,44,99,925 while the number of active cases declined to 1,24,868 during the same period, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Saturday.

The death toll climbed to 4,65,349 with 267 more fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.

Active cases decreased by 1,752 in 24 hours and now comprise 0.36 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020. Also, the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.29 per cent, the highest since March last year, the Health Ministry said.

The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been below 20,000 for 43 days in a row and less than 50,000 for 146 consecutive days.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.96 per cent. It has been less than 2 per cent for the last 47 days. The weekly positivity rate was 0.93 per cent. It has been below two per cent for the last 57 days.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,39,09,708 while the case fatality rate was 1.35 per cent.

The 267 new fatalities include 204 from Kerala and 15 from Maharashtra.

Of the 204 deaths, 49 were reported on November 19 and 155 were designated as COVID-19 deaths after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and the directions of the Supreme Court, a Kerala state government release said on Friday.

A total of 4,65,349 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 1,40,707 from Maharashtra, 38,169 from Karnataka, 37,051 from Kerala, 36,349 from Tamil Nadu, 25,095 from Delhi, 22,909 from Uttar Pradesh and 19,364 from West Bengal.

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 (ICMR)," the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

So far, over 115.79 crore vaccine doses have been administered in the country under the nationwide COVID-19 inoculation drive.

India's COVID-19 case tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 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 two crore on May 4 this year and three crore on June 23.