New Delhi - A woman dies every seven minutes in India because of complications during pregnancy or childbirth, the government said in a report Saturday.

The number of women dying each year from pregnancy and childbirth is 77 000, the Registrar General of India said in a report, three times higher than a government target.

About 301 women in 100 000 births die each year due to "pregnancy-related complications" despite the government's goal of bringing the mortality rate below 100, said the registrar general.

"In other words, one woman is dying every seven minutes due to complications related to pregnancy and childbirth," said the body which records births and deaths.

Rundown maternity services and near-absent mother-and-childcare centres and rural health facilities contributed to the huge death rate of mothers, the body said.

The report came after India's ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi said on International Women's Day on Thursday that problems faced by women could not "be seen in isolation and their development is linked to the national economy."

The report added: "Despite all the maternal health programmes and improvement in primary healthcare system, very few states are close to this desired figure (of keeping the mortality rate below 100 per 100 000 births)."