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The lush tropical forest and reddish-brown elevations of Lote, situated along India’s western shoreline, give way to a small hill where a industrial facility stands under the open sky.

The factory is largely newly built, but its equipment is not: it comes from the former Miteni plant in Vicenza, Italy. Miteni closed down in 2018 following among the most severe ecological controversies in the country’s recent history: after years of manufacturing Pfas forever chemicals, the firm’s leadership was brought to trial for polluting water sources in an region inhabited by 350,000 people. In June, previous company leaders were found guilty at the Vicenza court of causing environmental pollution and additional offenses and sentenced to jail, which they are expected to appeal against.

Understanding PFAS: Toxicity Levels and Exposure Routes

And yet, all of the company’s equipment, its intellectual property and processes – all required components to manufacture Pfas – is now located at Lote Parshuram MIDC, a large industrial zone almost 4,000 miles away, sandwiched among villages and groves of trees. And the plant has recently begun to resume PFAS production.

An Environmental Burden

Once known for its expertise in developing processes for advanced chemicals, Miteni is now notorious for the toxic legacy it bequeathed. In 2011, scientists found exceptionally elevated concentrations of PFAS compounds in the facility’s effluent. Hundreds of thousands of inhabitants had been exposed through drinking water.

The worst-affected were Miteni’s own workers. Ilario Ermetti, 69, who worked for decades in its specialty chemicals division, displayed one of the highest concentrations of PFAS documented in human blood. “When the story came to light, I reviewed a list of medical conditions associated with PFAS, and discovered I had them all,” states Ermetti.

Elevated concentrations of PFAS in the blood are linked to increased risk of malignancies, heart conditions, organ impairment, fertility issues and more. Ermetti is presently recuperating from a recent surgical operation.

Public Apprehensions

Michela Piccoli, 51, a nurse and activist with Mamme No Pfas, started organizing after learning her offspring’s blood tests indicated high levels of forever chemicals. When she learned that Miteni’s proprietary information and machinery were being transferred to India, she was stunned.

“As mothers, as women, our anxiety has increased,” she said. “Because our children are everyone’s children.”

Corporate Transition

Following Miteni’s insolvency, its assets were acquired in 2019 by a pharmaceutical firm, a branch of the Indian chemical company Laxmi Organic Industries – the sole participant in the public auction. By the start of 2023, the complete machinery was being shipped heading to Mumbai. Meanwhile, Laxmi was boasting of its new acquisition to shareholders. Records of shareholders’ meetings indicate that Laxmi’s management minimized environmental concerns, with its chairman, Harshvardhan Goenka, stating that Miteni was “doing everything legally according to EU regulations”.

Goenka is one of the three men on the board of Laxmi Organic Italy, a entity established in 2021. Another is Antonio Nardone, the final CEO of Miteni, who was found guilty of environmental pollution and false accounting at the recent court case and given six years and four months in jail. According to a former mid-level manager speaking on condition of anonymity, Nardone was taking business trips to India prior to the company went bankrupt.

While Laxmi bought Miteni’s properties in June 2019, the environmental assessment report for the construction of the factory in Lote reveals that in March 2018 the firm was already planning to start producing fluorinated compounds matching Miteni’s offerings. Laxmi Organic Industries did not respond to inquiries.

Growth Plans

By 2021, Laxmi’s plan explicitly spelled out the objective to “acquire the customer base of Miteni” and emerge as a top player in the production of PFAS and fluorochemicals. Logistics data show that, to get approval on the standard of the chemicals, in 2024 Laxmi began distributing samples to firms with past business relationships with Miteni, such as BASF, Chemours, DuPont and FMC.

Since early 2025, Laxmi’s site in Lote Parshuram has been completely active, producing chemicals that will be utilized for agrochemicals, medicines, dyes, beauty products and additional goods.

Regulatory Context

Investigations demonstrate that concentrations of persistent pollutants in the ecosystem are alarmingly high, particularly around production sites. But even though global focus is increasing, in India the issue is not yet a policy priority.

“Examining the rules, [Pfas] is absent in such guidelines. It’s not recognised by the national authorities as of today,” said Rajneesh Gautam, an environmental chemist at the academic institution. “Independent research groups across India have performed research in different states. But these studies are restricted in range, and there are still very few of them.”

Local Impact

Parineeta Dandekar, head of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers, and People, says the Lote Parshuram manufacturing zone “has a dismal environmental track record”. After it was established in 1986, “the income source of fisher folk communities in this region totally deteriorated,” she said.

The chemical district is dependent on a centralised wastewater treatment plant that has been at the forefront of complaints.

“Nearby communities have always stated that it’s malfunctioning,” said Dandekar. “During power outages, a frequent event in the countryside, the facility fails to operate and factories discharge polluted water straight into the streams.” Environmental authorities have sent multiple notices to the site in the past few years.

Global Implications

In the EU, the regulatory agency is reviewing a plan to prohibit the production, importation and utilization of over ten thousand forever chemicals. This attention may be pushing the sector to the developing nations, per Claudia Marcolungo, a professor of environmental law at the academic institution. “I believe that this issue should be examined, because the fact that Miteni’s operations, intellectual assets and machinery have been relocated to a country like India should prompt consideration, minimally, on the influence that these multinationals have to relocate in nations where there is clearly a lowering of standards in terms of ecological safeguards.”

Ongoing Risks

Miteni has shut down, but the company’s toxic legacy continues – at the contaminated site in Vicenza, and in Lote. The medical effects associated with PFAS manufacturing are likely to affect communities that are facing an hazardous setting for generations.

“That region has experienced sufficient ecological damage already,” says Dandekar. “Should additional hazardous firms move in, it’s always a risk.”