With the expansion of metro rail and other railway projects across the country, in addition to the opportunities arising out of the further expansion and development of airports, hospitals, refineries, commercial and residential skyscrapers, the opportunities are infinite for the fire-safe cable segment…
Cable Application Standards in India
CMI Limited
The cable application standards in India are still lagging when it comes to the safety-related aspects. Since the market is quite price-sensitive, not much emphasis is generally laid on safety except a few large-scale projects of national importance. For instance, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation is one such project to name where fire-resistant/fire-survival cables have been used. However, the scope and potential of fire-safe cables is on the rise with the Airports Authority of India and some more leading organizations in the country opting for this product.
To bridge the gap, the customers need to be educated on the importance of safety in day-to-day life when it comes to the selection and buying of the cables. There are various types of cable products designed for different applications and environments such as:
- Flame Retardant (FR) – Does not propagate fire even when installed in groups in vertical ducts
- Flame Retardant Low Smoke (FRLS) – Flame retardant cables with reduced halogen emission and smoke
- Low Smoke Zero Halogen (LSZH) – FRLS cables with minimal emission of halogens
- Fire-Survival/Fire-Resistant – LSZH/FRLS/FR cable to maintain circuit integrity up to 950 degrees for 3 hours
Fire-Safe Cables by the Company and the Manufacturing Capabilities
CMI Limited manufactures all the abovesaid and many other tailor-made products to address the stringent requirements set out for fire-safe/fire-resistant cables in various global standards such as BS 6387, IEC 60331, BS 7846 etc. Our range of fire -resistant/fire-survival cables are CE certified.
Market-Potential of Fire-Safe Cables in India
With the expansion of metro rail and other railway projects across the country, in addition to the opportunities arising out of the further expansion and development of airports, hospitals, refineries, commercial and residential skyscrapers, the opportunities are infinite for the fire-safe cable segment in the country. At the same time, it is also true that the importance of safety should be taken with diligent seriousness by the customers as we have witnessed a large number of cases globally where massive losses of lives, properties and valuable assets have occurred due to negligence.
All CMI products whether – FR, FRLS, LSZH or FS are globally well-received and the Indian market has also started adopting the same. We firmly believe that safety should be the prime objective during the execution of any project.
Cost-Effectiveness of Fire-Safe Cables
With the advancements in the development of compounds over the last few years, the fire-safe cables are becoming increasingly pocket-friendly. As a matter of fact, CMI has completely ruled out the production of normal PVC insulated house wires. Our 100% of the wires produced for industrial as well as household requirements are now at least Flame Retardant (FR).
Further, CMI has also developed Fire Survival (FS) Wires for indoor/outdoor wiring in accordance with globally accepted standards to address the requirements of high-rise buildings wherein the event of fire, the circuit integrity is of prime importance for rescue operations.
In fact, counterfeit products pose a major threat in this segment as while they are dirt cheap, they compromise with the testing and safety parameters. For this reason, one must trust the reputed and credible brands such as ours where the products are type tested at various national and international laboratories.
Efforts Undertaken to Educate the Consumers
From time-to-time, CMI conducts various drives at the local-level for educating the customers and the technicians/electricians on the importance of safety while selecting the wires and cables for any project.
Government’s Focus and Efforts to Raise Awareness
Government bodies such as DMRC, AAI, WDFC, etc. have already embraced the products in their technical specifications covering all the stringent testing requirements for development of fire-safe/fire-resistant/ LSZH/FRLS/FR cables. Also, at the time of supplies, the type test reports from third party laboratories such as CPRI, ERDA, etc. are mandatory to meet the pre-qualification requirements. Furthermore, the samples are randomly chosen from the supplied lots and are sent to independent laboratories for verifying that the supplied product complies with the requirements set out in technical specifications.
