NEW DELHI, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- India conducted over a million COVID-19 tests in a single day, which is a new record.

Data released by India's top health research body -- Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) showed that on Saturday, a total of 1,023,836 samples were tested in the country.

Health officials attribute the increase in testing capacity to the consistent adding up of more laboratories.

In January, there was only one laboratory to carry out COVID-19 tests. However, the number of laboratories at present is 1,511. Among these laboratories, 983 are in the government sector and 528 in the private sector.

India's federal health ministry described the testing of over a million samples in a day as crossing a milestone.

"Early identification through testing, prompt and effective treatment through supervised home isolation and quality medical care, and innovative graded policy measures have resulted in almost 100 per cent increase in recovered cases in the last 21 days," the ministry said.

Meanwhile, the ministry said country's COVID-19 tally has risen to 2,975,701.

According to the ministry, 2,222,577 people have been discharged from hospitals after showing improvement, which has pushed the recovery rate to 74.69 percent.