The number of COVID-19 cases in India surpassed one million on Friday, as total deaths crossed 25,000, according to the latest data issued by federal health ministry.

The ministry said 687 new deaths due to COVID-19 and 34,956 new cases were reported during the past 24 hours across the country, bringing the death toll to 25,602 and total cases to 1,003,832.

It was the highest single day spike in the number of fresh cases in the country so far.

According to ministry officials, so far 635,757 people have been discharged from hospitals after showing improvement.

"The number of active cases in the country right now is 342,473," said the ministry.

The country has entered the "Unlock 2.0" phase, though restrictions remain in full force inside the COVID-19 containment zones. Commercial international flights to and from India are suspended until July 31.

Last week, the government of Uttar Pradesh, the country's biggest state in terms of population, decided to impose a weekend lockdown from Friday night till Monday morning, to cut the chain of transmission. On Thursday, it decided to continue with similar lockdowns every weekend.

The neighboring Bihar, another densely populated state, also imposed a lockdown from July 16 to July 31. Considering the rise in the number of fresh cases on a daily basis, several other states in the country are also mulling imposition of lockdown.