India's COVID-19 caseload inched closer to the 94-lakh mark, while the number of people who have recuperated from the disease crossed 88 lakh pushing the national recovery rate to 93.71 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday.

The total coronavirus cases mounted to 93,92,919 with 41,810 new infections being reported in a day, while the death toll climbed to 1,36,696 with 496 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The active COVID-19 caseload remained below 5 lakh for the 19th consecutive day.There are 4,53,956 active coronavirus infections in the country which comprises 4.83 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 88,02,267 pushing the national recovery rate to 93.71 per cent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.46 per cent.

India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23 and 40 lakh on September 5.  It went past 50 lakh on September 16, 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, and surpassed 90 lakh on November 20.

According to the ICMR, over 13.95 crore samples have been tested up to November 28 with 12,83,449 samples being tested on Saturday.

The 496 new fatalities include 89 from Delhi, 88 from Maharashtra  52 from West Bengal, 30 from Haryana, 28 from Punjab, 25 from Kerala and 21 from Uttar Pradesh.

A total of 1,36,696 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 46,986 from Maharashtra followed by 11,750 from Karnataka, 11,694 from Tamil Nadu, 8,998 from Delhi, 8,322 from West Bengal, 7,718 from Uttar Pradesh,  6,981 from Andhra Pradesh, 4,765 from Punjab, 3,953 from Gujarat and 3,237 from Madhya 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.