Hyderabad Hosts FESA 2026 as Pharma Industry Explores Advanced Safety Technologies

Written By: Binoy Mehera

Binoy Mehera

A curious mind driven by a passion for storytelling, I find inspiration in uncovering hidden perspectives, exploring diverse experiences, and shaping ideas into narratives that leave an impact. With three years of experience in journalism and content creation, I have developed a strong instinct for identifying meaningful stories, blending research with creativity, and presenting information in a way that connects with readers. My storytelling journey is guided by a fascination for culture, travel, lifestyle, and the human experiences that define our world. I aim to create narratives that not only inform but also spark curiosity, evoke emotions, and offer audiences a deeper understanding of every story.

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August 22, 2026 4:52 PM

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Hyderabad hosted FESA 2026 as pharma companies in India adopted cutting edge fire, electrical, security and automation technologies. The Fire and Security Association of India (FSAI), Hyderabad Chapter partnered with the Council of EHS Professionals (CEP) to organize Fire, Electrical, Security and Automation (FESA) for Pharma event to provide a platform to safety leaders, EHS professionals, fire & security specialists, and technology innovators and to discuss safety concerns in pharmaceutical manufacturing.

With Telangana strengthening its position as a leading pharmaceutical and life-sciences hub, the seminar highlighted the growing need for advanced safety frameworks across pharma manufacturing facilities. The event focused on key areas including fire prevention, process safety, electrical safety, emergency preparedness and technology-driven risk management solutions to improve industrial resilience.

The one-day seminar was inaugurated by Chief Guest Sri G V Narayana Rao, Director, Telangana Fire Services, Government of Telangana. The event was also attended by Guests of Honour Sri Y. Mohan Babu, Director of Factories, Department of Factories, Government of Telangana; Sri Sarvesh Singh, CEO, Telangana Life Sciences; and Sri Tapas Saha, President, CEP. Representatives from FSAI Hyderabad Chapter, including Sri Manoj Wahi, President, and Sri Huzefa Hussain, Secretary, were also present.

Pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities face complex safety risks due to the presence of flammable solvents, combustible powders, hazardous chemicals, high-temperature operations, reactors, dryers, pressure equipment and extensive electrical infrastructure. These factors create significant challenges in preventing fire incidents and managing industrial hazards.

Many pharmaceutical processes involve materials that can generate dangerous conditions if not properly controlled. Solvents used in production can release flammable vapours, while active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), excipients and intermediate materials may create combustible dust clouds during operations such as milling, granulation, drying, spray drying and material handling.

Additional risks can arise from electrical failures, static discharge, hot work activities, equipment overheating, gas leaks and inadequate housekeeping practices. These hazards require strong preventive measures, continuous monitoring and advanced safety management systems.

Industry assessments indicate that electrical-related causes contribute to nearly half of pharmaceutical fire losses, underlining the importance of preventive electrical maintenance, regular inspections and modern safety technologies. The seminar emphasised the need for pharmaceutical companies to adopt proactive risk assessment methods, automation-based safety solutions and integrated emergency response strategies to protect people, assets and operations.

Chief Guest Sri G V Narayana Rao, Director, Telangana Fire Services, Govt. of Telangana; said, Telangana’s pharmaceutical industry, given its global importance and hazardous nature, requires a zero-accident approach backed by strict regulatory compliance, process safety and advanced fire and life-safety infrastructure. With Telangana aspiring to become the vaccine capital and a global bulk-drug hub, government and industry must work together to strengthen safety standards and implement the National Building Code and other applicable regulations. The focus must shift from reactive firefighting to proactive fire prevention and risk mitigation. Key measures include rigorous process-safety audits, hazard and risk assessments, structural fire protection and integrated safety systems. Advanced technologies such as VESDA early smoke detection, multi-spectrum UV/IR flame detectors and thermal imaging cameras can identify electrical hotspots, chemical flames, overheating and reactor abnormalities before they escalate. These systems are particularly important in pharma facilities where high airflow, clean rooms, flammable solvents and complex processes can make conventional detection ineffective. Clean-agent fire suppression systems should be adopted in clean rooms and laboratories to protect sensitive equipment and prevent contamination and prolonged production shutdowns. Automated HVAC and fire-damper interlocks can further contain suppression agents and improve response effectiveness. Industry should integrate fire alarms with emergency solvent shut-off, power tripping and access-control systems, conduct regular process-safety audits, and ensure emergency teams are trained and equipped for round-the-clock response. He stressed that Fire NOCs be issued only after thorough inspections and verification of safety systems, with notices and legal action initiated against non-compliant industries. Regular awareness programmes and adoption of best practices are also being undertaken. He said, pharma safety must move from responding to fires to preventing them through technology, compliance, process control and close industry–fire department collaboration.

According to Sri Manoj Wahi, President, FSAI Hyderabad Chapter; FESA 2026 seeks to drive a shift from firefighting to fire prevention, compliance to continuous safety, and reactive response to predictive risk management. Pharma fire safety cannot begin with a fire alarm. It must begin with hazard identification at the design stage and continue throughout the life of the plant. The ultimate objective should be Zero Fire, rather than merely Zero Fatality, creating safer, more resilient and future-ready pharmaceutical facilities. It is my honour and privilege to welcome you to the third edition of FESA and the second focused on the pharma industry. The inaugural Pharma FESA in November 2024 was a resounding success. We appreciate the Council of EHS Professionals (CEP) for its support in organising FESA 2026 in the region’s oldest pharma cluster. The conference covers fire, static and electrical safety, security, automation, and gap assessment beyond regulatory compliance. Hyderabad’s key challenge is integrating fire, process, electrical, life, physical and cyber security into a continuously managed risk system. The Pashamylaram incident further highlights the need for independent, periodic, risk-based audits rather than one-time compliance inspections. Established in 2002, FSAI promotes life safety, security and a proactive safety culturethrough continuous awareness and stakeholder engagement.

Guest of Honour Sri Y. Mohan Babu, Director of Factories, Department of Factories, Govt. of Telangana; emphasised that fire safety begins with hazard identification. Industries must identify hazards arising during processing, maintenance, storage and handling of chemicals, communicate them to employees and neighboring communities, and train people on appropriate preventive and emergency measures. He outlined three key responsibilities, hazard identification and communication, onsite emergency planning, and safety audits. Fire preparedness is critical as fire incidents can rapidly spread beyond a single machine or section to the entire factory and surrounding areas. He cautioned that pharmaceutical manufacturing requires special vigilance because closed, controlled environments can allow combustible dust or flammable vapours to accumulate, increasing the risk of fire or dust explosions. Industries must therefore address hazards such as static discharge and short circuits and maintain appropriate firefighting systems and safeguards. While acknowledging significant improvements in pharma safety over the past decades, he stressed that safety is not merely a statutory requirement but a moral responsibility and essential for business continuity. He urged industries to identify hazards proactively, implement preventive measures, and remain prepared through robust emergency plans and firefighting capabilities.

Guest of Honour Sri Sarvesh Singh, CEO, Telangana Life Sciences, thanked FSAI for creating a dedicated forum on fire and safety, noting that many companies still view it primarily as a regulatory compliance issue rather than a strategic priority. He highlighted Telangana’s position as a global life-sciences hub, producing 40% of India’s exported APIs and generics, nearly one-third of the world’s vaccines, and hosting a large concentration of life-sciences GCCs and FDA-approved manufacturing facilities. This scale, he said, brings a greater responsibility to raise safety standards.He urged the industry to move beyond conventional fire drills, CCTV and access controls towards proactive, technology-driven safety, using AI, deep tech and predictive analytics to identify risks before incidents occur. He also called for a broader definition of safety covering physical, digital, chemical, biological and infrastructure security, with updated safety norms reflecting the evolving risks of the pharmaceutical and life-sciences sector. FSAI, he suggested, can play a key role by bringing industry and technology providers together to drive this shift from reactive compliance to predictive and comprehensive safety management.

Guest of Honour Sri Tapas Saha, President, CEP (Council of EHS Professionals); said, appreciate FSAI for highlighting Hyderabad’s pharmaceutical industry, a major contributor to revenue and global healthcare. While pharma companies manufacture life-saving drugs, they also handle highly hazardous chemicals, making safety a critical responsibility. With 35 years in the sector, I have seen significant progress, but risks remain. Risk cannot be eliminated, but it can be controlled through robust processes, protection systems and continuous monitoring. Fire-safety systems must not merely exist; their functionality must be verified in real time. Automation can monitor water levels, pressure, pumps and other critical parameters, ensuring systems are operational during emergencies. As Telangana moves towards a $1-trillion economy and pharma, biotechnology and biosimilars expand rapidly, safety must grow alongside investment. The industry must protect people, property and the environment while sustaining growth. I urge pharma professionals to support FSAI in advancing safety automation and building a safer, more resilient pharmaceutical ecosystem.

The safety challenge is especially critical for Telangana, which has developed into one of India’s leading pharmaceutical manufacturing centres. Data from Telangana Fire Services shows that around 102 major fire incidents were reported in pharmaceutical facilities over nearly a decade, resulting in property damage of more than ₹100 crore. However, the overall financial impact is much greater when factors such as production downtime, operational disruption, raw material losses, contamination risks, compensation costs, rebuilding expenses and supply-chain interruptions are taken into account.

The Sigachi Industries incident at Pashamylaram in Sangareddy highlighted the serious consequences of combustible dust hazards and gaps in process safety management. A dust explosion in the spray-drying section resulted in 46 fatalities and 25 injuries, based on company disclosures. The shutdown of the affected facility also led to an estimated ₹60 crore impact on revenue due to operational disruption. The incident emphasised the urgent need for pharmaceutical industries to strengthen safety systems by focusing not only on traditional fire protection measures but also on process safety, explosion control, advanced detection systems and predictive risk management approaches.

FESA 2026; advocates a six-pillar approach of Preventhazards; Detect early; Suppress effectively; Contain fire and explosions; Respond through trained teams and drills; and recoverthrough business continuity and disaster recovery. As Telangana strengthens its position as a global pharmaceutical hub, fire and process safety has implications for lives, production continuity, supply chains, regulatory standing and customer confidence, says Sri Huzefa Hussain.

While pharmaceutical companies follow various statutory requirements and regulatory guidelines, complete public information on overall fire and process-safety compliance across the sector remains limited. The focus is therefore shifting from meeting basic approvals and obtaining fire certifications to establishing a culture of continuous compliance, real-time monitoring and operational preparedness. The Telangana Directorate of Factories’ 2026 safety circular for chemical and pharmaceutical industries dealing with combustible dust and hazardous processes further highlights the importance of strengthening preventive safety practices.

FESA 2026 highlighted advanced technologies and solutions designed to help pharmaceutical companies move from a reactive firefighting approach to proactive and predictive safety management. The solutions showcased included advanced fire and gas detection systems, AI-powered video analytics, thermal imaging, automatic sprinkler networks, foam-based protection, water-mist and clean-agent suppression systems, explosion detection and control technologies, spark detection, electrical thermography, predictive maintenance tools, IoT-enabled safety monitoring, emergency shutdown mechanisms, process interlock systems, digital command centres and automated emergency response platforms.

Industry specialists emphasised that effective fire safety does not start when an alarm sounds; it begins with identifying and controlling hazards during the facility design stage and continues throughout the entire operational lifecycle. Before a pharmaceutical plant becomes operational, companies must conduct detailed assessments such as HAZOP, HIRA, process hazard analysis, combustible dust evaluations, hazardous-area classification, fire-load assessments, chemical compatibility studies, explosion protection planning and emergency response preparation.

Once operations begin, maintaining safety requires regular system inspections, equipment testing, electrical thermography, gas detector calibration, emergency response drills and independent safety audits. A continuous risk-management approach ensures that pharmaceutical facilities remain prepared to prevent incidents, minimise losses and protect employees, infrastructure and production continuity.