With 3,23,144 people testing positive for the coronavirus in a day, India's infection tally has climbed to 1,76,36,307, while the national recovery rate further dropped to 82.54 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.

The death toll mounted to 1,97,894 with 2,771 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

There has been a slight dip in the daily cases as compared to the number of new infections reported in the past few days.

The active case count has increased to 28,82,204 comprising 16.34 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has further dropped to 82.54 per cent, from 82.62 per cent reported on Monday.

The national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.33 per cent on February 17.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,45,56,209 while the case fatality rate has further dropped to 1.12 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. India crossed the grim milestone of 1.50 crore on April 19.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 28,09,79,877 samples have been tested up to April 26 with 16,58,700 samples being tested on Monday.

The 2,771 new fatalities include 524 from Maharashtra, 380 from Delhi, 249 from Uttar Pradesh, 226 from Chhattisgarh, 201 from Karnataka, 158 from Gujarat and 124 from Jharkhand.

A total of 1,97,894 deaths linked to the virus have been reported so far in the country including 65,284 from Maharashtra, 14,628 from Delhi, 14,627 from Karnataka, 13,651 from Tamil Nadu, 11,414 from Uttar Pradesh, 11,009 from West Bengal, 8,530 from Punjab, 7,736 from Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh 7,536.

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

"Our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR," the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.