India recorded 23,285 cases of coronavirus infection in a day, the highest in around 78 days, taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 1,13,08,846, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.

The death toll increased to 1,58,306 with 117 daily new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The total active caseload increased to 1,97,237, which now comprises 1.74 per cent of the total infections, while the recovery rate has dropped to 96.86 per cent.

On December 24, 24,712 new infections were reported in a span of 24 hours.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to1,09,53,303, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.40 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.

According to the ICMR, 22,49,98,638 samples have been tested up to March 11 with 7,40,345 samples being tested on Thursday.

The 117 new fatalities include 57 from Maharashtra, 18 from Punjab and 13 from Kerala.

A total of 1,58,306 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 52,667 from Maharashtra followed by 12,535 from Tamil Nadu, 12,381 from Karnataka, 10,934 from Delhi, 10,286 from West Bengal, 8,741 from Uttar Pradesh and 7,179 from Andhra Pradesh.

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.