For nearly four decades, Agni Controls has stood at the intersection of engineering rigor and fire safety innovation. Founded in 1985, at a time when India’s fire protection landscape was heavily reliant on imported technologies, the company chose a different path—one rooted in indigenous design, in-house R&D, and manufacturing depth. From its early beginnings as a control panel manufacturer, Agni Controls has steadily evolved into a comprehensive OEM of advanced fire detection and suppression systems tailored for high-risk industrial applications. What distinguishes Agni Controls is not merely the breadth of its portfolio—ranging from special-application flame, spark, and ember detectors to gas-based and water-mist suppression systems—but the philosophy that underpins it.
Every solution is born out of real-world risk analysis, stringent standards compliance, and a belief that fire safety must be designed around the application, not retrofitted as an afterthought. Backed by international certifications, the company today competes confidently in global markets without compromising on quality or performance. In this cover story, we speak with D. Balachandran, CEO, whose leadership reflects Agni Controls’ engineering-first DNA, to understand the company’s journey, its innovation roadmap, and its vision for sustainable, globally relevant fire protection. Excerpts:
Q.Agni Controls has been in the fire protection industry for over four decades. How has the company’s journey evolved since its inception in 1985, and what have been the key milestones shaping its identity?
When Agni Controls was founded in 1985, India’s fire protection industry was still in its formative years, largely dependent on imported technologies and fragmented solutions.
What began as a small-time operation manufacturing custom-built control panels soon evolved into something far more significant. As industries such as power, oil & gas, manufacturing, and infrastructure expanded, so did the complexity of fire risks they faced. Agni Controls responded by steadily broadening its technological capabilities, moving beyond conventional fire alarm panels into specialised detection and suppression solutions designed for high-risk, mission-critical environments.
Through the 1990s and early 2000s, the company made a defining strategic shift: investing deeply in in-house engineering, R&D and manufacturing. This decision shaped our long-term identity. We focused on developing proprietary designs for flame detection, heat detection, spark and ember detection, and gas-based fire suppression systems. This engineering-first mindset allowed us to address complex industrial applications where standard solutions often fell short.
Today, more than four decades since our inception, Agni Controls stands as a reflection of steady, purposeful growth. Our identity has been shaped not by rapid expansion alone, but by consistency, engineering discipline, manufacturing depth, and an unwavering focus on quality.
Q. Innovation seems central to your product portfolio. Can you share how Agni Controls approaches R&D and what recent technological Advancements you’re most proud of ?
At Agni Controls, innovation is not just a terminology, it is one of our core strategic policies. Our policy over the last four decades has been: Technical Innovation, Committed Quality & Dedicated HRD. With dynamic in-house R&D, design, manufacturing, assembling, and testing facilities, we have built our product portfolio around both proprietary technologies and continuous improvement of existing solutions.Agni Controls’ approach to research and development is anchored in 2 core principles:
Application-Driven Innovation: R&D efforts are shaped by real industrial fire protection challenges rather than abstract technology projects. We have developed and successfully implemented many critical fire protection solutions. These niche solutions are often ignored even by multi-national fire protection companies just because, they feel it’s not worth their time and effort.
Indigenous Development: A key focus of our R&D is to design and build products indigenously, substituting imports with high-performance local alternatives. This enables competitive pricing, supply responsiveness, and technology ownership, particularly for special-application detectors and suppression components.
Recent Technological Advancements
In recent years, Agni’s R&D has produced several noteworthy advancements that Underscore both depth and relevance:
Special-Application Detection: We are continuing to refine our range of flame, ember, spark, and probe-type heat detectors. A major R&D improvement in our spark detectors will enhance the detection capabilities to capture high speed sparks travelling at higher air velocities.
Advanced Gas Suppression Systems: Recent achievements include VdS certification of our online weight monitoring devices for gas suppression banks, reflecting rigorous performance validation and improved compliance with European safety norms. Systems are offered as cabinet type packages to avoid site dependency and skills of the workers at field.
Water Mist and Integrated Systems: Water mist solutions and integrated detection-suppression modules demonstrate our ability to combine detection and extinguishing in compact assemblies, addressing sensitive asset protection without excessive infrastructure.
These advancements illustrate a technology roadmap rooted in solving real safety challenges, with each generation of products reflecting feedback loops from field performance, customer requirements, and evolving regulatory requirements.
Q.Quality assurance is vital in fire safety products. What quality control systems and certifications (like ISO 9001) does Agni Controls maintain to meet global safety standards ?
In fire protection, quality is ultimately measured by performance under worst-case scenario. At Agni Controls, Committed Quality is one of core strategic policies. Every year, the entire month of December is celebrated as “Quality Awareness Month” where everyone in our organisation is a part of.We can proudly say that we were the first fire protection company in India to acquire ISO 9001:2015 certified Quality Management System, audited and certified by Bureau Veritas Certification India (BVCI). The QMS procedures are built in our day-to-day activities that promote a quality culture and not a mere certification. This culture governs every stage of the product lifecycle such as design control, supplier qualification, manufacturing, inspection, testing, documentation, traceability, and corrective action ensuring consistency and continual improvement across all operations.Products and systems are designed to align with both national and international fire protection standards, enabling acceptance across international customers.
To validate compliance beyond internal testing, Agni Controls maintains multiple independent approvals:
• Our bala-wa series… Gas based Fire Suppression systems like CO2 & Inert are certified by VdS Schadenverhütung, one of Europe’s most demanding approval authorities.
• Our fladet series… Flame detectors are EN54 approved and are tested at Building Research Establishment (BRE) for the LPCB certification.
•Our bala-wa-mist series… High Pressure Water Mist system is under technical evaluation by BSI Global, UK’s National Standards Body for Kitemark certification.
Q. Agni Controls offers an extensive range of fire detection and suppression products. How do you identify customer needs across different sectors, and what drives your product diversification strategy?
Our approach begins with a fundamental question: what can go wrong in a specific environment, and how must detection or suppression respond to that risk in real time? Customer needs vary significantly across sectors such as oil & gas, power generation, manufacturing, automotives, data centres, infrastructure, and process industries. Agni Controls identifies these needs through a combination of:
• Application based solution, rather than general product selection.
• Direct engagement with consultants, EPCs, and end-users during project design stages.
• Feedback from field installations and commissioning teams.
• Regulatory requirements, which often differ by geography and industry.
This proximity to real-world applications allows us to understand not only what customers specify, but why certain performance criteria like response time, false alarm immunity, environmental resistance, or agent effectiveness are critical in each sector.Our diversification strategy is intentionally application driven. Instead of offering a single solution across all cases, we develop and offer Need-Based Solutions tailored to specific risk profiles.
While the product portfolio is extensive, Agni Controls maintains a disciplined focus on engineering depth over portfolio breadth. Diversification is therefore evolutionary and is built on decades of domain expertise rather than short-term market trends. By aligning customer insight, standards compliance, and in-house engineering, we continue to expand our portfolio while preserving a clear, application focused identity.
Q.Your product portfolio ranges from special-application detectors to advanced suppression systems. Could you walk us through your key product families — such as the Fladet Series, bala-wa Series, and water-mist systems—and explain how each is designed to meet specific industrial fire-safety challenges?
At Agni Controls, the product portfolio is also structured around a simple belief that industrial fire risks are not uniform, and neither should the solutions be.
“Agni” means “Fire”. The term Agni Controls directly refers to Fire Controls. To distinguish between companies having the common name, our product portfolio is diversified under various brand names viz Fladet series…, bala-wa series…, bala-wa-mist series… & Defao series.
Fladet Series–Special-Application Detection
The Fladet Series addresses environments where conventional smoke detection is ineffective. Our special application detectors such as flame, spark, ember, and probe-type heat detectors are engineered for detecting fire in the early stage even in the harshest industrial conditions such as open process areas, conveyor systems, turbines, and heavy machinery.
bala-wa series–Gas-Based Fire Suppression
All our gas-based fire suppression systems are brought under the bala-wa series… The bala-wa series comprises carbon dioxide suppression systems designed for normally unoccupied machinery & electrical risks, inert gas and clean agent suppression systems designed for enclosed, mission critical spaces where water is unsuitable. These systems are engineered to specific risks.
bala-wa-mist series Water Mist Systems
Agni Controls’ water mist systems deliver effective fire suppression with minimal water usage. By combining rapid cooling and heat shielding, they are suited for machinery enclosures and sensitive industrial applications.
Defao series…Detect Extinguish Fire At Origin
Defao series automatic fire extinguishing systems are available in both high pressure CO2 and low pressure clean agent extinguishants. These systems are standalone and require no power. Defao series automatic fire extinguishing systems are suitable to protect critical machineries and electrical control panels.Together, these product families reflect Agni Controls’ application-driven engineering approach offering purpose-built detection and suppression solutions matched precisely to industrial fire-safety challenges.
Q.Early fire detection technologies are critical in high-risk environments. How do products like infra-red spark and ember detectors and flame detectors differ in functionality and application, and what advantages do they offer compared to conventional detection solutions?
In high-risk industrial environments, conventional smoke and heat detectors are not suitable. Our Fladet series… spark and ember detectors, and flame detectors are designed to detect fire much earlier even in harshest conditions.IR ember detectors identify hot body particles and glowing embers at the point of origin, often under a second after generation, making them ideal for conveyors, ducts, and material handling systems in wood, textile, paper and recycling industries.Flame detectors, capture the optical radiation of open flames and are suited for open or high-airflow environments such as oil & gas facilities, turbine enclosures, and power plants, where smoke may not accumulate quickly.Compared to conventional detectors, these technologies offer faster response, higher reliability in harsh conditions, and significantly reduced fire detection time, enabling earlier suppression and minimising asset damage and downtime.
Q.The bala-wa-mist® water mist system has been highlighted as a sustainable solution. Can you explain its advantages over traditional suppression systems and where you see its adoption growing?
bala-wa-mist® water mist systems reflect our approach to sustainable fire protection delivering high suppression efficiency with minimal environmental impact. As sustainability goals tighten and water consumption becomes a priority, water mist systems are a balanced alternative between traditional sprinklers and gaseous suppression systems. Unlike traditional sprinkler systems that rely on large water volumes, water mist uses atomised droplets to control fire through rapid cooling, oxygen displacement at the vicinity of the flame and radiant heat blocking. Advantages over Traditional Systems are:
• Compact infrastructure, making it suitable for space-constrained machinery and enclosures
• Significantly lower water consumption, reducing collateral damage and recovery time
• No chemical residue or greenhouse impact, unlike some clean agents
These characteristics make bala-wa-mist® particularly attractive where asset protection, sustainability, and operational continuity are critical. In essence, bala-wa-mist® represents a shift toward precision suppression, protecting assets effectively while aligning with modern environmental and operational expectations.
Q. International markets are competitive. What steps has Agni Controls taken to ensure its products are compliant with international standards and attractive to customers abroad?
The fire protection industry in India is very challenging with low price margins, heavy competition from organised and un-organised players. International markets demand stringent compliances and approvals while expecting lower costs when importing from India. Agni Controls does not believe in reducing quality for lower prices. At Agni Controls, we offer only one quality whether it is for domestic or international market. It begins with designing products that align seamlessly with global fire-safety standards rather than adapting them after.A key step has been embedding international product standards such as BIS, EN & NFPA standard requirements into product development covering detection, control logic, and suppression system performance. This ensures compatibility with specifications commonly used by international consultants, EPC contractors, and end-users. Product credibility is further strengthened through independent third-party approvals, including VdS, LPCB, BIS, BSI etc. Beyond compliance, Agni Controls focuses on engineering depth, application-specific solutions, and responsive technical support, enabling customers abroad to adopt its products with confidence. This combination of standards led design, certified quality systems, and industrial application expertise has positioned the company as a credible fire protection OEM partner to established international brands.
Q.Events and exhibitions play a big role in industry visibility. How important are trade shows and safety conclaves to your business development and customer engagement strategy?
For Agni Controls, trade shows and conclaves are not just marketing events, they are knowledge sharing platforms that connect end users, installers, EPC contractors and consultants allowing us to understand emerging risk trends, evolving standards, and application challenges across various sectors. Live demonstrations and technical discussions help communicate the value of specialised detection and suppression technologies far more effectively than static marketing methods.Agni Controls conducts dedicated seminars, webinars, and live demonstration to reinforce our commitment as a knowledge-driven engineering partner, enabling dialogue on strengthening trust and long-term customer relationships beyond immediate business outcomes.
Q. Partnerships and collaborations can fuel growth. Can you share any noteworthy collaboration with machinery manufacturers, EPC contractors, or system integrators that have strengthened your market reach?
Over the years, we have built strong, long-term collaborations with machinery manufacturers, EPC contractors, and system integrators, particularly in sectors where fire protection must be embedded into the core equipment or process design.With machinery OEMs, Agni Controls works at the design stage to integrate special-application detectors and suppression systems directly into equipment such as conveyors, turbines, CNC machines, and process skids. These collaborations ensure faster detection, optimised suppression response, and seamless system integration, often transforming fire protection from an add-on feature into an in-built safety feature.Engagements with EPC contractors have strengthened our presence in large infrastructure, power, and industrial projects. Similarly, partnerships with system integrators help adapt our detection and suppression technologies to diverse control architectures and site conditions, supporting customisation without compromising compliance or performance.Collectively, these collaborations have expanded our market reach, accelerated adoption in complex projects, and reinforced its positioning as an engineering partner rather than just a product supplier.
Q. Workforce and culture are core to innovation. How does Agni Controls nurture talent internally, and what kind of culture do you promote to stay ahead in fire safety engineering?
As mentioned previously, Dedicated HRD is one of our core strategic company policies. At Agni Controls, innovation is rooted as much in people as in technology. We nurture talent through a strong emphasis on in-house engineering development, hands-on learning, and exposure to real industrial fire-safety challenges from early in an engineer’s career.All the members in our organisation call themselves “Agni Controls Family”. It is one of our core principles to give opportunities to youngsters and freshers rather than hiring experienced professionals. They are nurtured, trained and transformed into capable leaders. As on date, around 60% of our workforce is women, transforming social ecosystem.Culturally, Agni Controls promotes an engineering-first, accountability-driven environment, where design decisions are guided by standards, field performance, and safety outcomes rather than speed alone. Continuous learning through weekly trainings and on-job trainings ensure that our workforce is updated on the latest developments across the globe.This combination of ownership mindset, hands-on exposure backed with technical knowledge enables Agni Controls to stay ahead in fire protection engineering, by developing solutions that are not only innovative, but dependable when it matters most.
Q. Looking forward, what are your strategic priorities for the next 5–10 years? Are there any new markets, technologies, or sustainability initiatives you are particularly focused?
For us, the next 5–10 years will be defined by disciplined growth anchored in engineering depth, global relevance, and sustainability.A key strategic priority is international expansion to cater to customers across the globe. Strengthening certifications, local partnerships, and application support will be central to this effort.On the technology front, Agni Controls is focused on developing more indigenously developed fire protection products. Continuous investment in people, infrastructure and R&D, ensuring that innovation remains in-house, technology-driven, and closely aligned with real industrial risk.Sustainability is another major pillar. We see strong growth potential in water mist that reduce water usage, eliminate harmful residues, and support environmentally responsible fire protection.Together, these priorities reflect our long-term vision: To evolve from a respected manufacturer into a globally trusted OEM partner in Industrial Fire Protection.