India in a day recorded 3,26,098 COVID-19 cases that took the tally to 2,43,72,907, while 3,890 new fatalities pushed the death toll to 2,66,207, according to Union health ministry data updated on Saturday.

The active cases have reduced to 36,73,802 and comprise 15.07 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 83.83 per cent, it stated.

The number of people who have recovered from the disease has increased to 2,04,32,898, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.09 per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed.

India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7 last year, 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 last year.

The country's case tally crossed the two-crore mark on May 4.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, 31,30,17,193 samples have been tested up to May 14 with 6,93,093 samples being tested on Friday.

The 3,890 new fatalities include 695 from Maharashtra, 373 from Karnataka,      311 from Uttar Pradesh, 289 from Delhi, 288 from Tamil Nadu, 181 from Uttarakhand,   180 from Punjab, 172 from Chhattisgarh, 164 from Haryana, 155 from Rajasthan, 136 from West Bengal and 104 from Gujarat.

So far, 2,66,207 deaths have been reported in the country, including 79,552 from Maharashtra, 21,085 from Karnataka, 20,907 from Delhi, 17,056 from Tamil Nadu, 16,957 from Uttar Pradesh, 12,993 from West Bengal, 11,477 from Punjab and 11,461, 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.