New Delhi, April 27 -- India is working on an overhaul of its firefighting vehicles-from identifying challenges in dense urban landscapes to building domestic testing capacity-as the government seeks to address critical gaps in fire safety infrastructure, according to two people aware of the development. The effort comes amid acute shortages of fire stations, equipment and personnel, raising concerns over response readiness as urban fire risks rise.

As part of the plan to ensure adequate fire safety preparedness, the heavy industries ministry has started consultations to identify challenges faced by firefighting vehicle makers-lack of indigenous testing, import dependence for high-tech components, varied regulatory requirements across st...