The Delta strain, the coronavirus variant which was first found in India, led to the massive second wave of COVID-19 in the country, a government study has stated.

The study, which was done by scientists of the Indian SARS COV2 Genomic Consortia and the National Centre for Disease Control, found the Indian variant "more infectious" than the Alpha variant found in the United Kingdom. The Delta variant is 50 per cent more infectious than the Alpha strain, the study was quoted as saying.

The Delta variant has infected most in Indian states like Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Odisha and Telangana.

The country on Friday recorded 132,364 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, as per the Ministry of Health released data.

It has also recorded 2,713 deaths due to the deadly virus during the same period.

The total death toll due to the virus now stands at 340,702.

Over 28.5 million COVID-19 cases have been reported in the country of 1.3 billion people since the pandemic broke out last year, IBNS said. (SAM)