With India witnessing a slew of high rise iconic buildings, meeting with international safety standards is critical. UNISAFE Fire Protection Specialists LLC, Dubai, has now established a direct presence in India. Manohar Bidaye, Director, Unisafe India, talks to Buildotech.

What is the current scenario of fire safety industry?

  Fire Protection Industry has gained importance in recent years. It is estimated that the loss of assets due to fire is almost $100 billion per year with an increasing tendency. The total world market for fire protection business show an upward trend, but the rate varies in different segments and countries. Estimated worldwide market size is approximately US$58 billion and expected to grow to around $73 billion by 2015. There are more than 15,000 companies worldwide in the fire protection business of which 5,000 are relevant with around 200 leading companies.

  Indian fire protection market is expanding to meet the growing demand from the user segment. Large office space, technology parks, commercial complexes, airports, petrochemical complexes, manufacturing ventures are expanding and these ventures continue to support the growth of the fire protection demand in the country.

  The fire-fighting industry in India has tremendous potential. As the economy grows, both industry and government are updating fire protection systems for continued operations in industrial plants and offices. The government regulations for fire safety are now mandatory and this has further brightened the market outlook for fire protection systems in India.

  Technology parks, office buildings for IT/ITES, infrastructure development, new hospitals, shopping malls, hotels and banks will contribute to the demand for fire protection in India.

  The Government is investing heavily in infrastructure development, upgrading existing airports and setting up new airports and metros in various cities in India. These continue to drive the demand for fire protection. Large refineries, petrochemical complexes, biotechnology ventures, pharmaceutical, automobile, steel, other manufacturing projects and oil/gas exploration programme have specialized fire protection requirements.

Developments in Indian fire safety industry

  As far as the Indian market is concerned, there is no authentic data on the correct size of the addressable market. However, our inside estimates indicate that the current market size is around `3400 crores. Currently, there are more than 60 companies with pan India presence for Fire Protection. However majority of players in this field are either family owned or proprietary concerns. Most of the fire protection companies who operate internationally are already having presence in India. With the market becoming more competitive many of the players in Fire Protection are already diversifying into other fields like Security.

  Customers are also becoming more conscious of the importance of having a reliable fire protection in place. In the near future, there will be a consolidation of the number of players and only those who are able to provide quality services will survive. Multinationals are more aggressive in high value projects which are mostly long duration which gives them more revenues. However, the nature of these projects takes a major portion of their resources leaving very little space for them to operate in the other segments. This is likely to continue as long as the large government tenders for power plants etc. continue.

Brief on Unisafe’s role in India

  In the Indian market, Unisafe aims at targeting IT/ITES, hotels, banks, commercial complexes, shopping malls, manufacturing Industries, steel plants, petrochemical / oil & gas and marine / offshore. Unisafe will be operating as a Specialist Fire Protection provider. The differentiating factor from other companies already operating in India would be our expertise in the domain which is proven in the Middle East Market, and ability to deliver quality services.

Unisafe’s product offerings in India

  The offering from Unisafe India can broadly be classified into Detection, Protection and Suppression.

  • Fire detection systems- Conventional and addressable fire alarm systems and aspiration detection
  • Firefighting systems- Hydrant systems, fire extinguishers and fire hoses with cabinets and reels.
  • Fire protection systems- Sprinkler systems, deluge systems and foam systems
  • Fire Suppression Systems- Inert Gas & CO2 Systems Novec 1230 & FM200 Systems and water mist Systems, and
  • Specialized Fire Fighting Systems supplied by some of the world’s most esteemed brands in the sector.

  Unisafe India aims at establishing project management and implementation capabilities by using specialized techniques and offering total capability services for turnkey projects to its customers in India. Apart from providing design team which is a part of the project execution team, the company focus would also be to create the most optimal design for the client by offering complete turnkey package in fire protection. The services will include:

  • Designing the various systems based on the application and specifications laid down by client/consultant and conforming to relevant codes.
  • Sourcing and supplying the various system components as per design
  • Installation of the complete system as per design
  • Testing, commissioning and handing over of the complete systems