India to launch heritage tour for Jews of Indian origin

India is organizing heritage package tours by Indian-origin Jewish people to their ancestral heritage sites in Mumbai and other cities next year, local media reported on Sunday.

Indian ambassador to Israel Jaideep Sarkar Sunday told more than 3,500 Indian-origin Jews at a meeting in the Jewish state that his government is planning to celebrate the year 2017 as " Visit Maharashtra year" for Jewish people of Indian origin, according to the Press Trust of India.

Maharashtra is the major Indian state where used to be home of Jewish community in its capital Mumbai.

The southern state of Kerala will also renovate two synagogues in Kochi city, to attract some 25,000 Jewish people originating from Kochi, who are now living in Israel, said the report.

Some 85,000 Jews of Indian origin living in Israel.