The Eden Gardens is aiming to reclaim the crown of India’s largest cricket stadium by next year, never mind the dearth of spectators in Calcutta to fill a fourth of those seats for a Test match.

Eden had shrunk from size 89,000 to 60,000 in the run-up to the World Cup, leaving many dismayed at the thought of their favourite stadium losing its famous reverberating roar. The unofficial capacity, people standing included, used to be around 1,30,000 back in those days when an international match at the ground meant looking for tickets months in advance.

The additional seats that will take Eden ahead of DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai — both currently have the same capacity — have been planned in Block J. A second tier will be added to that block after the Indian Premier League (IPL) starting next month and elections to the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) in July.

“The roofs of the newly constructed blocks B, C, K and L are being fitted right now and we hope to finish before the IPL season commences. The turnstiles and the proposed upper tier of Block J should be ready by the start of the 2013 edition of the IPL,” CAB joint secretary Biswarup Dey said.

But will giving Eden back its size translate into restoring its reputation as cricket’s most enthusiastic — and noisiest — amphitheatre? Former cricketer Devang Gandhi said he was “very happy” about his home ground regaining top place in the stadium capacity stakes, only to add that it wasn’t just about numbers anymore.

“I have watched matches from the lounges in all the top grounds of the country and my experience has been the best in one of the Eden corporate boxes,” Devang said.

T20 cricket, corporate style, is what has kept Eden ticking of late. The once discerning Eden crowd that loved its Test cricket as much as it did the shorter game was sorely missed during the India-West Indies Test in November last year as well as the ODI against England in October. The ODI turnout of less than 27,000 was the lowest at the ground for a game featuring India.

The CAB is, of course, hoping for a turnaround soon. “Calcutta still loves its cricket and the crowds will come back. We want Eden to be prepared for that, hence the expansion,” an official said.

An engineer involved in the project said the Block J platform would have to be pulled down to lay a new foundation for two-tier seating arrangements. Turnstiles will be set up for match passes with magnetic strips on the reverse.

Block J is to the left of the BC Roy Club House.

The CAB has already spent around Rs 100 crore on the first phase of development, which included pulling down blocks B, C, K and L and redoing them with a mezzanine floor lined with plush corporate boxes.

Apart from the new chairs in the galleries, the ground now has food courts, cleaner toilets, a 3,000sq ft TV production room, underground reservoirs and fire-fighting facilities like hydrants. Sources said Rs 11 crore was being spent on the roofing, done with aluminium sheets imported from Germany.

“The roof has been designed to match the false ceiling and lighting around the corporate boxes,” an official said.

Eden could also do with more heads under those roofs.

Do you think Eden will reverberate with its roar of old for anything other than T20? Tell ttmetro@abpmail.com