As the convoy arrived in Mumbai at 10:00pm on Thursday after crossing Indian states of West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Delhi, Hariyana, Punjab and Maharashtra, hundreds of people greeted the participants with clapping.

Mayor of Mumbai Dr Shubha Raul received the participants of the rally with bouquets at a podium erected at the seaside place, a famous tourist attraction of India.

Later, she hosted a reception for the participants at Taj President Hotel.

Since the beginning of the 14th Saarc summit on April 3, the convoy crossed over 1,800 kilometres from Delhi to Mumbai after night halt in Joypur and Udaypur in last three days.

As many as 30 sports vehicles along with 97 persons including celebrities, journalists and government officials from all the eight Saarc nations, the rally covered over 8,050 kilometres roadway during its 22-day journey that started from Cox's Bazar, the tourist capital of Bangladesh, on March 15.

The main objective of the rally is to focus on the regional connectivity among the Saarc countries, highlight the need for improving regional trade, development of infrastructure, enhance people-to-people contact, explore the vast potential of business and investment, promote goodwill, familiarise the places of major tourist attractions and explore possibilities of trade by road.

Today the participants will make a bus journey to Pune, 200 kilometres from Mumbai. They will return to Mumbai today from where they will start for Colombo by air on April 8.

After visiting Sri Lanka till April 12, the rally will go to Male, the capital of the Maldives, where it will conclude its month-long journey on April 13, covering 9,000-km roadway in Saarc countries.