Strategic reserve
ISPRL's Visakhapatnam facility, with 1.33 million tonnes of crude storage in rock caverns and tanks, was built under India's phase-I strategic reserve programme.
Visakhapatnam is a major east-coast port city in Andhra Pradesh. The port serves the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, quoted at about 7.3 million tonnes a year, and the industrial hinterland of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha and Chhattisgarh, which brings coal, ore and dust hazards alongside oil and gas. An intrinsically safe smartphone distributor in Visakhapatnam (Vizag), Andhra Pradesh would carry the IS-04Z1 to these buyers once certification completes.
Pre-launch · certification in progress · Launching Q4 2026
Short answer. Visakhapatnam (Vizag), Andhra Pradesh has no appointed SAMS distributor yet: the IS-04Z1 is pre-launch (certification in progress, no certificate issued, launch planned for Q4 2026), and distributor applications are open.
Current position: certification in progress, nothing issued, launch targeted for Q4 2026. An operator's own vendor approval is a separate step. Certification status. Place facts reviewed October 2026.
| Check | What to look for | IS-04Z1 today |
|---|---|---|
| Level of protection | ia, ib or ic matched to the zone | ib, for Zone 1 |
| Entity parameters | Uo, Io and Po within the device limits | Published with the certificate |
| Accessories | Chargers and cases certified with the device | Defined at certification |
| Where it applies | Visakhapatnam (Vizag), Andhra Pradesh: Underground strategic crude storage, Port petroleum berths and single point mooring, Refinery process units | Classified by the site operator |

An intrinsically safe Android smartphone designed for Zone 1 and Zone 21 hazardous areas in Visakhapatnam India. It is pre-launch: IECEx, ATEX and NEC 500 certification is in progress ahead of the Q4 2026 launch.
A short profile of the site and the kinds of classified area that matter for portable equipment.
ISPRL's Visakhapatnam facility, with 1.33 million tonnes of crude storage in rock caverns and tanks, was built under India's phase-I strategic reserve programme.
Tropical savanna climate with 24.7 to 30.6 C annual temperature range and monsoon rainfall; the coast is exposed to occasional cyclones.
The city is known as India's shipbuilding capital, with Hindustan Shipyard and the Naval Dockyard on the harbour, and it is the headquarters of the Indian Navy's Eastern Naval Command.
Institutions in the city include the Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy and the Indian Maritime University, which feed a local pool of petroleum and marine engineers for plant and shipyard work.
Vizag is described as India's largest all-weather port on the east coast, handling roughly 65 to 70 million tonnes of cargo a year, with dry bulk carriers making up nearly two thirds of ship calls.
The Visakh refinery set a record crude throughput of 16.04 million tonnes in 2025-26, and a Residual Upgradation Facility was commissioned in the same year, adding new process-unit areas to be classified.
Intrinsic safety limits the electrical and thermal energy in a circuit so that neither a spark nor a hot surface can ignite a gas or dust atmosphere, even when a fault occurs. The ib level, used for Zone 1, tolerates one fault. It is the usual way to make a handheld device that a worker carries continuously through a hazardous area.
The IS-04Z1 is designed on this principle for Zone 1 and Zone 21 (marking target II 2 G Ex ib IIC T4). Intrinsic safety is a design basis, not a certificate: certification is in progress and none has been issued yet.
In Visakhapatnam (Vizag), Andhra Pradesh. Turnarounds and daily rounds at a refinery send inspectors through process units and tank farms with checklists, photographs and permits. A handheld intended for intrinsically safe use could keep these in one device. The same logic applies to staff monitoring storage caverns and moving along petroleum berths.
SAMS is appointing authorised distributors ahead of the Q4 2026 launch. No territory has been granted for Visakhapatnam (Vizag), Andhra Pradesh yet and applications are reviewed company by company. Because a certified Ex device cannot be opened by an ordinary phone workshop without invalidating its certificate, SAMS looks for partners who can provide competent technical support and after-sales service locally.
No. Nothing can be bought or taken into a classified area today: certification is in progress and launch is planned for Q4 2026. What is available now is the datasheet, the written certification schedule and evaluation units for safe-area use.
No price is published. While certification is in progress there is no list price and no committed lead time, and a supplier quoting a firm figure for an uncertified Ex handset is promising something it cannot stand behind. Indicative pre-launch pricing is issued in writing against a stated quantity and site.
The circuits are designed to limit energy so a spark or hot surface cannot ignite a gas or dust atmosphere, even with one fault (level ib, Zone 1). Certification of that design is in progress.
Likely candidates are refinery process units, crude and product tank farms, underground strategic crude storage, port petroleum berths and single point mooring. Which areas are classified, and to what zone, is set by the site operator's own area classification drawings.
Apply through the distributor page with your company details and the territory you cover. SAMS reviews applications company by company and has not yet granted a territory for Visakhapatnam (Vizag), Andhra Pradesh.
Yes. Rainfall of roughly 1,100 mm a year, mostly in the monsoons, plus coastal humidity and salt air, mean outdoor users usually want good ingress protection, sealed ports and regular cleaning of connectors. Check the rating against your site specification.
The main clusters are the HPCL Visakh refinery, the port with its bulk cargo handling, the steel plant and its coal and ore supply chain, and the shipyards. Gas, vapour and combustible dust zones all arise, so confirm the classification with each site.
Not by default. Entry of electronic devices is governed by the operator's permit and equipment approval rules, which contractors must follow. A device in certification would normally need operator acceptance first. Confirm with the site operator's HSE team before planning any trial.
Related guides for Visakhapatnam India and for India.
Tell us what you need to equip and where. The SAMS team answers by email with the datasheet and where each certification route stands.
Tell us the zone, gas group and operator. We will send the datasheet and the certification schedule.