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The lush tropical forest and rust-red elevations of Lote, located on India’s west coast, lead to a modest rise where a industrial facility stands against the sky.

This industrial unit is almost brand new, but its machinery is not: it comes from the defunct Miteni factory in Vicenza, Italy. Miteni ceased operations in 2018 following one of the worst ecological controversies in the nation’s modern record: after decades of producing Pfas forever chemicals, the firm’s leadership was brought to trial for polluting water resources in an region inhabited by 350,000 people. In June, its former executives were found guilty at the local tribunal of environmental damage and additional offenses and given prison sentences, with appeals anticipated.

Understanding PFAS: Toxicity Levels and Exposure Routes

Nevertheless, the entire operational setup, its patents and processes – all required components to manufacture forever chemicals – 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 specialty compounds, Miteni is now notorious for the toxic legacy it left behind. In 2011, researchers found exceptionally elevated concentrations of Pfas in the plant’s wastewater. Numerous of inhabitants had been subjected through drinking water.

The worst-affected were Miteni’s own workers. Ilario Ermetti, 69, who worked for decades in its specialty chemicals division, displayed among the top levels of PFAS ever recorded in blood samples. “When the story came to light, I looked at a list of medical conditions related to PFAS, and discovered I had them all,” says Ermetti.

Elevated concentrations of PFAS in the bloodstream are linked to higher chances of malignancies, cardiovascular diseases, organ impairment, fertility issues and more. Ermetti is presently recuperating from a recent surgical operation.

Community Concerns

Michela Piccoli, 51, a nurse and activist with Mamme No Pfas, started organizing after discovering her children’s blood showed high levels of forever chemicals. When she found out that Miteni’s patents and machinery were being transferred to India, she was shocked.

“As mothers, as females, our concern has grown,” she said. “Because our children are the children of all.”

Business Shift

After Miteni went bankrupt, its holdings 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 early 2023, all the equipment was travelling on freight ships heading to Mumbai. Meanwhile, Laxmi was promoting its recent purchase to investors. Records of investor gatherings show that Laxmi’s management minimized environmental concerns, with its chairman, 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 company established in 2021. Also included is Antonio Nardone, the last chief executive of Miteni, who was convicted of environmental pollution and false accounting at the recent court case and sentenced to six years and four months in prison. According to a ex-supervisor requesting confidentiality, Nardone was traveling for work to India months before the company went bankrupt.

While Laxmi bought Miteni’s assets in June 2019, the ecological review for the building of the plant in Lote shows 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 requests for comment.

Growth Plans

By 2021, Laxmi’s strategy explicitly spelled out the goal to “acquire the customer base of Miteni” and emerge as a top player in the manufacturing of Pfas and fluorochemicals. Shipping records indicate that, to secure validation on the quality of the compounds, in 2024 Laxmi began distributing test batches to firms with previous commercial ties with Miteni, such as BASF, Chemours, DuPont and FMC.

From the beginning of 2025, Laxmi’s site in Lote Parshuram has been completely active, producing chemicals that will be used in agrochemicals, medicines, dyes, beauty products and other products.

Regulatory Context

Investigations demonstrate that levels of forever chemicals in the environment are alarmingly high, particularly around production sites. But although global focus is growing, 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 environmental chemist at the academic institution. “Independent research groups across India have performed research in various regions. But this work are limited in scope, and there are still only a handful.”

Regional Consequences

Parineeta Dandekar, head of the regional environmental group, says the Lote Parshuram manufacturing zone “has a poor ecological history”. After it was set up in 1986, “the livelihood of fishing populations in this region completely collapsed,” she said.

The chemical district is dependent on a shared effluent treatment facility that has been frequently criticized.

“The local villages have consistently reported that it’s not working properly,” said Dandekar. “During power outages, a frequent event in the countryside, the plant cannot function and industries discharge polluted water directly into the streams.” Environmental authorities have issued multiple notices to the plant in recent years.

Global Implications

In the EU, the European Chemical Agency is reviewing a proposal to prohibit the production, import and use of more than 10,000 forever chemicals. This scrutiny 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 investigated, because the fact that Miteni’s operations, patents and equipment have been transferred to a country like India should lead us to reflect, at the very least, on the power that these multinationals have to move in nations where there is evidently a race to the bottom in terms of environmental protection.”

Ongoing Risks

Miteni has shut down, but the firm’s harmful impact continues – at the contaminated site in Vicenza, and in Lote. The medical effects associated with PFAS manufacturing are expected to impact communities that are already struggling with an unsafe environment for years to come.

“That region has seen enough environmental destruction by now,” says Dandekar. “If more dangerous companies move in, it’s always a risk.”