India recorded 16,375 new cases of coronavirus, the lowest in over six months, taking the country's Covid-19 caseload to 1,03,56,844, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.

The death toll increased to 1,49,850 with 201 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 99,75,958 pushing the national recovery rate to 96.32 per cent, while the Covid-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.45 per cent.

The Covid-19 active caseload remained below 3 lakh for the 15th consecutive day.

There are 2,31,036 active coronavirus infections in the country which comprises 2.23 per cent of the total caseload, 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.

According to the ICMR, 17,65,31,997 samples have been tested up to January 4 with 8,96,236 samples being tested on Monday.

The 201 new fatalities include 29 from Maharashtra, 25 from West Bengal, 24 from Punjab, 19 from Kerala and 12 each from Delhi and Chhattisgarh.

A total of 1,49,850 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 49,695 from Maharashtra followed by 12,166 from Tamil Nadu, 12,110 from Karnataka, 10,597 from Delhi, 9,817 from West Bengal, 8,413 from Uttar Pradesh, 7,118 from Andhra Pradesh and 5,400 from Punjab.

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.