Panoli GIDC Fire at Supreme Petrochem, Bharuch: Three Workers Seriously Burnt After Blast During Oil Distillation, Preliminary Information Says; Cause Under Investigation

What happened on 4 November 2026

On Wednesday, 4 November 2026, a blast and a fierce fire hit a company reported as Supreme Petrochem in the Panoli industrial estate (Panoli GIDC), Ankleshwar, Bharuch district, Gujarat. Three outlets, Sandesh, ETV Bharat Gujarati and Connect Gujarat, reported it on 4 November; the first report we found was published at about 10 am. None of them gives the time of the blast. We have not been able to confirm the company’s registered details, so we use the name only as the reports give it.

According to the preliminary information in ETV Bharat and Connect Gujarat, gas formed during oil distillation and caused a blast, after which the fire spread quickly. Sandesh does not mention distillation; it says the plant held petrochemical and flammable material, that the fire grew within moments, and that black smoke and flames could be seen from several kilometres away. Workers ran out in panic and people in nearby companies were alarmed too.

Three workers were seriously burnt, all three reports say. Sandesh says they were rushed by ambulance to a nearby private hospital; Connect Gujarat says the hospital is a private one at Kharod. We have not named the workers. None of the reports gives their condition. None of the three mentions a death, but nothing yet tells us how the three are doing.

The response

• Fire fighting: about seven fire fighting units reached the spot. Sandesh says they came from the Panoli industrial association and Ankleshwar fire teams, and used water and foam; ETV Bharat names the Panoli notified-area fire service. The units worked to stop the fire reaching neighbouring companies.
• Cooling the tanks: Sandesh reports that the first priority was cooling operations to keep the fire from reaching the chemical storage tanks, and that these were still on when it published.
• Agencies at the site: Sandesh says the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health, the Gujarat Pollution Control Board and the local police reached the site, and that the agencies are examining whether the fire safety equipment was working and the safety protocol was followed.
• How long it lasted: not stated. None of the reports says when the fire was brought under control.

The second fire in two days

All three reports describe this as the second day running of a serious fire in the Ankleshwar-Panoli industrial belt. On 3 November a fire broke out at the solvent distillation plant of Shyam Enterprise in Ankleshwar GIDC; six to seven fire tenders were sent, and Gujarat Samachar’s English edition says casualty details were not available when it published. That is a separate company and a separate incident, and we have not found a link between the two. We mention it because both involve distillation plants, and because both reports raise the same question about safety in the estate.

Where the reports differ, and what we do not know

• Cause: ETV Bharat and Connect Gujarat give the gas formed during oil distillation as the preliminary information. Sandesh says it is not yet known whether it was a technical fault or a reaction. No official cause has been announced. It is for the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health and the other agencies to establish.
• Injured: three seriously burnt in all reports. Their condition, and whether anyone else was hurt, is not reported.
• Deaths: none mentioned in the reports we read, written within hours of the fire. We will not say there were none until a later report confirms it.
• Damage: the extent of damage to the plant and whether the neighbouring units were hit is not reported.
• Company and officials: no statement from the company, the fire service or the Directorate was quoted in the reports we read. We found no report of a case being registered.
• Workers’ housing: Connect Gujarat says housing for workers has been built right against the company’s wall, and calls this very risky. The other two reports do not mention it, and we do not know who lives there or whether anyone was evacuated.

What this case teaches

A distillation unit heats a liquid until it turns to vapour and then cools it back. Done properly it is routine work. Done with a leak, a blocked line, a wrong temperature or a loss of cooling, the vapour or gas can build up and ignite. We do not know what happened at Panoli, and the reports are preliminary. But the pattern is a familiar one in India’s chemical estates: a process fault, a blast, a fire that spreads to stored material, and workers close to the equipment who take the burns.

Two points stand out from the reports as they stand. First, the fire teams went straight to cooling the storage tanks, which is exactly where a fire like this becomes much bigger. Second, if workers really are housed against the plant wall, a blast does not stop at the boundary. The inquiry should say whether the equipment, the alarms and the emergency plan worked.

For similar hazards on our site, see the earlier chemical factory fire at Panoli GIDC, the Saykha GIDC reactor blast in Bharuch, the Chhatral GIDC blast at a dye unit and the Chincholi MIDC solvent fire. Our guides Fire-prone industrial estates in Gujarat and Gujarat fire rules 2026 for industrial units cover the estates and the rules, Chemical industry safety in India covers process safety, and Boiler explosions and factory fires in India lists the warning signs.

What plant managers, workers, neighbours and the estate can do

• Managers: keep temperature, pressure and cooling alarms on distillation units working and tested, and make sure a person can stop the process at once. Keep flammable stock away from the process area and keep tank cooling and foam systems ready. Do not allow people to live or rest against a hazardous plant boundary.
• Workers: know the exit and the assembly point away from the process area, and what the siren means. Report any leak, smell of gas or unusual heat before it becomes a blast, and ask for a written procedure for start-up and shutdown. You have the right to stop work when it is unsafe.
• Neighbouring units and residents: when you hear a blast, move away from the plant and upwind, and keep others away. If smoke reaches you, go indoors, shut windows and switch off fans or air conditioners until the authorities say it is safe. Follow the instructions from the estate and the district administration, and call 112 or 101.
• If someone is burnt: cool the burn under clean running water for at least 10 minutes, ideally up to 20, and take off rings, watches and loose clothing near it unless stuck to the skin. Do not put ice, toothpaste, butter or ointment on it. Cover it loosely with a clean cloth and call 108. Basic first aid for burns and other emergencies explains more.
• Everyone: save the emergency numbers on your phone. Emergency numbers in India tells you which to call.

Bharuch and Ankleshwar already have a city safety guide, and it covers Panoli and the neighbouring industrial estates. Read the Bharuch-Ankleshwar safety guide.