By IANS
Mumbai : For the first time, the Olympic torch will come to Mumbai April 17 next year on its relay route for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
This was announced by the Beijing Organising Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) in the presence of the International Olympic Committee in Beijing. Traditionally, the Olympic Torch has gone to capital city New Delhi.
Mumbai, which is the 12th city on the relay route, will witness daylong celebrations on the arrival of the Olympic torch in the city. The torch is to be carried by more than a hundred bearers who will converge here from across the country.
The official torch lighting will take place in Olympia, Greece, in March 2008. The torch will travel to 20 countries around the world, including Britain, France, the US, Australia, India and Japan, and then make its way through Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau before visiting 113 more cities in China to arrive at its final destination in Beijing Aug 8, 2008 to mark the start of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.