India has extended the ban on international flights till July 31 as the nation sets its "Unlock 2" plan rolling to cope with the coronavirus pandemic. The civil aviation regulator DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) said the ban on all international flights has been extended till July 31 and only cargo and flights approved by the DGCA will be allowed.

"However, international scheduled flights may be allowed on select routes by the competent authority on case to case basis," the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said.

The DGCA on June 26 said international passenger flights will be banned till July 15, which has now been extended till the end of the month.

Air India and other private domestic airlines have been operating unscheduled international repatriation flights under the Vande Bharat Mission, which started on May 6.

The country resumed scheduled domestic passenger flights on May 25, after a gap of two months since the coronavirus lockdown was first announced in late March.

The domestic flights are being operated under strict safety and social distancing guidelines.

India's COVID-19 tally touched 6,25,544 with the biggest single-day increase of 20,903 cases today, while the death count rose to 18,213, government data shows. The number of recoveries stands at 3,79,892. The recovery rate has improved to 60.72 per cent.

There are 2,27,439 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country at present.

Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases, followed by Tamil, Delhi, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Rajasthan.