India's tally of COVID-19 cases rose  to 1,09,50,201 with 12,881 new infections, while the recoveries surged to 1,06,56,845, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

The death toll increased to 1,56,014 with 101 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The COVID-19 case fatality rate has dropped to 1.42 per cent, while the number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,06,56,845 which translates to a national COVID-19 recovery rate of 97.32 per cent.

The COVID-19 active caseload remained below 1.5 lakh.

There are 1,37,342 active cases of coronavirus infections in the country which comprises 1.25 per cent of the total cases, 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, 20,87,03,791 samples have been tested up to February 17 with 7,26,562 samples being tested on Wednesday.

The  101 new fatalities include 40 from Maharashtra, 16 from Kerala and 10 from Punjab.

A total of  1,56,014 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 51,631 from Maharashtra followed by 12,438 from Tamil Nadu, 12,276 from Karnataka, 10,894 from Delhi, 10,237 from West Bengal, 8,707 from Uttar Pradesh and 7,165 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.