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The lush tropical forest and reddish-brown elevations of Lote, located on India’s west coast, give way to a small hill where a industrial facility stands under the open sky.

This industrial unit is largely newly built, but its machinery is not: it originates from the defunct Miteni factory in Vicenza, Italy. Miteni ceased operations in 2018 following one of the worst environmental scandals in the country’s recent history: after decades of producing Pfas forever chemicals, the firm’s leadership was prosecuted for contaminating water sources in an region home to 350,000 people. In June, previous company leaders were found guilty at the Vicenza court of environmental damage and other charges and given prison sentences, with appeals anticipated.

Understanding PFAS: Toxicity Levels and Exposure Routes

Nevertheless, all of the company’s equipment, its patents and processes – everything needed to manufacture Pfas – is now located at Lote Parshuram MIDC, a vast industrial enclave thousands of miles distant, sandwiched among local communities and wooded areas. And the factory has just started to produce forever chemicals again.

An Environmental Burden

Once known for its specialism in developing processes for specialty compounds, Miteni is now infamous for the toxic legacy it left behind. In 2011, scientists found extraordinarily high concentrations of PFAS compounds in the facility’s effluent. Numerous of residents had been subjected through potable water.

The worst-affected were Miteni’s employees. Ilario Ermetti, 69, who worked for decades in its fluorinated chemical department, showed one of the highest concentrations of Pfas documented in blood samples. “After the facts emerged, 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 associated with increased risk of cancer, heart conditions, liver and kidney damage, reproductive disorders and more. Ermetti is currently recovering from a recent medical procedure.

Public Apprehensions

Michela Piccoli, 51, a nurse and activist with Mamme No Pfas, started organizing after learning her children’s blood showed elevated amounts of forever chemicals. When she learned that Miteni’s patents and equipment were being sent to India, she was stunned.

“Being parents, as females, our concern has grown,” she said. “Since our kids are the children of all.”

Corporate Transition

Following Miteni’s insolvency, its assets were bought in 2019 by Viva Lifesciences, a branch of the domestic chemical corporation Laxmi Organic Industries – the sole participant in the open sale. By early 2023, all the equipment was being shipped en route to Mumbai. At the same time, Laxmi was promoting its recent purchase to shareholders. Records of shareholders’ meetings indicate that Laxmi’s management minimized environmental concerns, with its president, Harshvardhan Goenka, stating that Miteni was “doing everything legally in compliance with European standards”.

Goenka is one of the three men on the board of Laxmi Organic the Italian branch, a company established in 2021. Another is Antonio Nardone, the last chief executive of Miteni, who was convicted of environmental pollution and false accounting at the recent court case and given six years and four months in jail. Per a ex-supervisor requesting confidentiality, Nardone was taking business trips to India prior to the company went bankrupt.

Although Laxmi purchased Miteni’s properties in June 2019, the ecological review for the construction of the plant in Lote reveals that in March 2018 the firm was already planning to commence manufacturing fluorochemicals matching Miteni’s offerings. Laxmi Organic Industries declined to answer inquiries.

Growth Plans

By 2021, Laxmi’s strategy explicitly spelled out the objective to “capture [the] market share of Miteni” and emerge as a top player in the production of PFAS and fluorochemicals. Logistics data indicate that, to secure validation on the standard of the chemicals, in 2024 Laxmi began distributing samples 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 fully operational, producing chemicals that will be utilized for pesticides, pharmaceuticals, dyes, cosmetics and additional goods.

Environmental Oversight

Studies have shown that concentrations of persistent pollutants in the ecosystem are alarmingly high, especially near production sites. But although global focus is increasing, in India the matter is not yet a policy priority.

“If we look at the regulations, [Pfas] is absent in those standards. It’s unacknowledged by the Indian government currently,” 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 only a handful.”

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 livelihood of fisher folk communities in this region completely collapsed,” she said.

The industrial area is served by a shared effluent treatment facility that has been frequently criticized.

“The local villages have consistently reported that it’s malfunctioning,” said Dandekar. “When there is no electricity, a common occurrence in the countryside, the facility cannot function and factories discharge polluted water straight into the streams.” Environmental authorities have sent multiple notices to the plant in the past few years.

Global Implications

In the EU, the European Chemical Agency is examining a proposal to ban the production, import and utilization of more than 10,000 forever chemicals. This attention may be driving the sector to the developing nations, according to Claudia Marcolungo, a professor of environmental law at the University of Padua. “I believe that this issue should be investigated, because the fact that Miteni’s operations, patents and machinery have been transferred to a nation like India should lead us to reflect, at the very least, on the influence that these multinationals have to relocate in countries where there is evidently a lowering of standards in terms of ecological safeguards.”

Ongoing Risks

Miteni has closed down, but the company’s toxic legacy lives on – at the contaminated site in Vicenza, and in Lote. The medical effects linked to PFAS manufacturing are expected to impact populations that are facing an unsafe environment for years to come.

“The area has experienced sufficient environmental destruction by now,” says Dandekar. “If more dangerous companies move in, it’s perpetually concerning.”