Operating the Sigachi plant for 35 years without a single incident, says MD 

Two days after a deadly explosion at Sigachi Industries’ manufacturing unit in Pashamylaram, Hyderabad, which claimed at least 40 lives and left many injured, the cause of the blast remains unclear. The company on Wednesday denied that a reactor explosion was to blame.

Highly placed sources in the State government, citing preliminary assessments, pointed to multiple safety lapses: a lack of adequate entry and exit points for workers, poor ventilation and alleged violations of setback norms, with the company reportedly utilising almost the entire land parcel.

A senior official said the company was under the scanner and a government department had issued notices as recent as December 2024. The official, however, did not elaborate on whether the company responded or took any corrective action.

Labour Minister G. Vivekanand told The Hindu that the government would convene a meeting with representatives of pharma companies to review safety protocols in the wake of the explosion. The focus now is to ensure that all Red Category industries have adequately trained personnel handling each department, he said.

In a written response to The Hindu’s queries, Sigachi Industries maintained that it had all the required permissions and permits to operate. “We have been operating this plant for 35 years without a single incident,” the company stated.

On government officials’ observations as well as the FIR in the case highlighting alleged laxity on the part of the company to upgrade to new equipment, the company said the unit is one of the earliest plants that Sigachi commissioned. “Over the years, Sigachi has continuously invested in retrofitting, equipment upgrades, structural reinforcements and compliance-based audits to ensure the facility meets both national and international safety standards. We are devastated by this [incident], given this record,” the company said.

The Hyderabad unit has been certified ISO 45001:2018 international standard for occupational health and safety management systems that helps businesses create a safer and healthier workplace. As part of the certification, regular audits are conducted. “There were no mission-critical non-conformities found that could lead to safety concerns or issues,” Sigachi said without mentioning when the last audit was conducted.

It said an internal safety review has been initiated and Sigachi remains committed to cooperating with all legal, safety, and regulatory audits to strengthen safety norms. All learnings will be incorporated to reinforce and redesign the safety framework, it said.

Speaking to media at the site, Sigachi MD and CEO Amit Raj Sinha said the plant building is old but the equipment inside are being constantly upgraded. On the cause behind the incident, he said it seems to be dust explosion in dryer section. The company has three such facilities in the country and no solvents were used in them, he added.

Mr.Sinha thanked Chief Minister A.Revanth Reddy and Health, Labour and Industries Ministers, the local MLA, District Collector and officials for their “unconditional support”.

To queries, he said there were 143 employees at the plant during the incident and the company is in the process of collating the number of contract workers. The company is paying hospital bills of those injured and its executives were stationed at all the hospitals to provide assistance to the families of those deceased and injured, he said.