The renovated and ready-to-open Netaji Indoor Stadium. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

Two indoor stadiums in the city ? Netaji Indoor and Kshudiram Anushilan Kendra ? will be reopened on August 31, after a gap of eight months.

Public works department (PWD) minister Amar Chowdhury said on Thursday that the stadiums had been kept shut to facilitate renovation and modernisation.

?I visited the stadiums on Wednesday and found that they both could be reopened immediately. The government has decided to do so on August 31,? he said.

At Netaji Indoor, the government is planning to increase capacity from 15,000 to 25,000. Till it was closed, the stadium would earn about Rs 1 crore annually. ?We are now trying to target about Rs 2 crore,? said an official.

The new-look Netaji Indoor will host the Calcutta Tourism Fair from September 1 to 3. From September 19, it will host a high-profile tennis tournament, that will attract not only national stars like Sania Mirza, but also some top-rung players.

According to Chowdhury, Rs 7.28 crore had been spent on civil and electrical work at the two stadiums, situated in the Eden Gardens complex. ?The entire amount was given to us by the sports department,? he added.

A PWD official said the roof of the stadium complex and air-conditioning were also repaired. The toilets and dressing rooms have been reconstructed, following international norms.

An additional Rs 70 lakh has been spent on decoration and beautification of the main entry points to the stadium complex.

Both the stadiums will also be rented out to private parties for social functions, like marriages, and also to political parties for conferences and other programmes.