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The lush tropical forest and rust-red elevations of Lote, located on India’s western shoreline, give way to a small hill where a industrial facility stands under the open sky.

This industrial unit is largely newly built, but its equipment is not: it comes from the defunct Miteni factory in Vicenza, Italy. Miteni ceased operations in 2018 after among the most severe environmental scandals in the country’s recent history: after years of manufacturing Pfas forever chemicals, the firm’s leadership was prosecuted for contaminating water resources in an area home to 350,000 residents. In June, previous company leaders were convicted at the Vicenza court of environmental damage and other charges and sentenced to jail, with appeals anticipated.

What are PFAS, how toxic are they and how do you become exposed?

Nevertheless, the entire operational setup, its patents and processes – everything needed to produce Pfas – is now located at Lote Parshuram MIDC, a vast industrial enclave almost 4,000 miles away, wedged between villages and wooded areas. And the plant has just started to produce forever chemicals again.

A Toxic Legacy

Previously recognized for its expertise in creating methods for advanced chemicals, Miteni is now infamous for the toxic legacy it bequeathed. In 2011, researchers found exceptionally elevated levels of Pfas in the facility’s effluent. Numerous of residents had been exposed through drinking water.

The worst-affected were Miteni’s own workers. Ilario Ermetti, 69, who was employed for years in its specialty chemicals division, displayed one of the highest concentrations of Pfas ever recorded in blood samples. “After the facts emerged, I reviewed a catalog of health issues related to Pfas, and found out I had them all,” states Ermetti.

Elevated concentrations of PFAS in the bloodstream are associated with higher chances of malignancies, cardiovascular diseases, liver and kidney damage, reproductive disorders and more. Ermetti is presently recuperating from a recent surgical operation.

Public Apprehensions

Michela Piccoli, 51, a healthcare worker and campaigner with Mothers Against PFAS, began mobilizing after discovering her children’s blood indicated elevated amounts of persistent pollutants. When she learned that Miteni’s proprietary information and machinery were being transferred to India, she was stunned.

“As mothers, as women, our concern has grown,” she said. “Since our kids are the children of all.”

Business Shift

Following Miteni’s insolvency, its holdings were bought in 2019 by Viva Lifesciences, a branch of the domestic chemical corporation Laxmi Organic Industries – the only bidder in the public auction. By the start of 2023, all the equipment was travelling on freight ships heading to Mumbai. At the same time, Laxmi was boasting of its new acquisition to shareholders. Transcripts of shareholders’ meetings indicate that Laxmi’s executives downplayed environmental concerns, with its president, Harshvardhan Goenka, declaring that Miteni was “operating lawfully according to European standards”.

Goenka is one of the three men on the directorate of Laxmi Organic the Italian branch, a entity established in 2021. Also included is Antonio Nardone, the final CEO of Miteni, who was found guilty of environmental pollution and false accounting at the June trial and given six years and four months in prison. Per a former mid-level manager requesting confidentiality, Nardone was taking business trips to India months before the company went bankrupt.

While Laxmi purchased Miteni’s assets in June 2019, the environmental assessment report for the building of the factory in Lote reveals that in March 2018 the firm was already intending to commence manufacturing fluorochemicals matching Miteni’s offerings. Laxmi Organic Industries did not respond to requests for comment.

Growth Plans

By 2021, Laxmi’s strategy clearly outlined the objective to “acquire the customer base of Miteni” and emerge as a top player in the production of PFAS and specialty chemicals. Logistics data indicate that, to secure validation on the standard of the compounds, in 2024 Laxmi started sending out test batches to firms with past business relationships with Miteni, such as BASF, Chemours, DuPont and FMC.

Since early 2025, Laxmi’s location in Lote Parshuram has been completely active, producing chemicals that will be used in agrochemicals, medicines, dyes, beauty products and other products.

Regulatory Context

Studies demonstrate that concentrations of persistent pollutants in the ecosystem are worryingly elevated, especially near manufacturing facilities. But although international attention is increasing, in India the issue is not on the political agenda yet.

“Examining the rules, [Pfas] is not present in those standards. It’s not recognised by the Indian government currently,” said Rajneesh Gautam, an ecological scientist at the academic institution. “Independent research groups across India have performed research in various regions. But these studies are limited in scope, and there are still very few of them.”

Regional Consequences

Parineeta Dandekar, head of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers, and People, says the Lote Parshuram manufacturing zone “has a poor ecological history”. After it was set up in 1986, “the income source of fisher folk communities in this region completely collapsed,” she said.

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

“Nearby communities have always stated that it’s malfunctioning,” said Dandekar. “When there is no electricity, a common occurrence in the countryside, the plant cannot function and factories release contaminated effluent straight into the waterways.” Regulatory bodies have sent several warning letters to the site in recent years.

Global Implications

In the EU, the European Chemical Agency is examining a proposal to ban the production, importation and utilization of over ten thousand persistent compounds. This scrutiny may be driving the sector to the global south, according to Claudia Marcolungo, a legal scholar at the University of Padua. “I think that this matter should be investigated, because the fact that Miteni’s production, patents and equipment have been relocated to a country like India should prompt consideration, minimally, on the influence that these multinationals have to move in countries where there is clearly a lowering of standards in terms of environmental protection.”

Persistent Threats

Miteni has shut down, but the firm’s harmful impact lives on – at the polluted location in Vicenza, and in Lote. The medical effects associated with PFAS manufacturing are likely to affect populations that are already struggling with an unsafe environment for generations.

“The area has experienced sufficient ecological damage by now,” says Dandekar. “Should additional hazardous firms establish presence, it’s always a risk.”