India's COVID-19 tally rose to 11,514,331 on Friday as 39,726 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours, said the latest data from the health ministry.
According to the official data, the death toll mounted to 159,370 as 154 COVID-19 patients died since Thursday morning.
The number of new cases registered during the past 24 hours is the highest so far this year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed concern at the sudden rise in COVID-19 cases and called for immediate steps to curb a possible second wave of the pandemic in the country.
There are still 271,282 active cases in the country, while 11,083,679 people have been discharged so far from hospitals after medical treatment.
There was an increase of 18,918 active cases during the previous 24 hours, out of which a maximum of 13,601 was reported from the southwestern state of Maharashtra.
The number of daily active cases had been on the rise over the past few days, as another wave of COVID-19 looms large in India.
