"In partial modification of circular dated June 26, 2020, the competent authority has further extended the validity of circular issued on the subject cited above regarding scheduled international commercial passenger services to/from India till 2359 hours IST of March 31, 2021," said a circular issued by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in this regard.

"Dedicated cargo flights and flights under the bilateral air bubble pacts with select countries will continue to operate," it added.

The announcement comes in the wake of the country recorded 16,577 fresh Covid-19 cases on Friday. While the country's infection tally went up to 11,063,491, a total of 12,179 fresh recoveries took the total number of people discharged to 10,750,680, according to the health ministry.