India's COVID-19 caseload rose to  1,06,25,428 with 14,545 people testing positive for coronavirus infection in a day, while the recoveries have surged to 1,02,83,708, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.

The death toll increased to 1,53,032 with 163 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,02,83,708 pushing the national COVID-19 recovery rate of 96.78 per cent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.44 per cent.

The COVID-19 active caseload remained below 2 lakh for the third consecutive day.There are 1,88,688 active coronavirus infections in the country which comprise 1.78 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, 19,01,48,024 samples have been tested up to January 21 with 8,00,242  samples being tested on Thursday.

The 163 new fatalities include 52 from Maharashtra, 21 from Kerala, 15 from Punjab , 9 each from Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal and 8 from Delhi.

A total of 1,53,032 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 50,634 from Maharashtra followed by 12,299 from Tamil Nadu, 12,187 from Karnataka, 10,782 from Delhi, 10,089 from West Bengal, 8,597 from Uttar Pradesh and, 7,142 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.