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The lush tropical forest and rust-red hills of Lote, located on India’s western shoreline, lead to a modest rise where a factory looms under the open sky.

This industrial unit is almost brand new, but its equipment is far from new: it comes from the former Miteni plant 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 persistent PFAS compounds, the firm’s leadership was prosecuted for polluting water sources in an region home to 350,000 residents. In June, previous company leaders were found guilty at the Vicenza court of causing environmental pollution and additional offenses and given prison sentences, which they are expected to appeal against.

Understanding PFAS: Toxicity Levels and Exposure Routes

And yet, the entire operational setup, its patents and processes – all required components to produce Pfas – is now located at Lote Parshuram MIDC, a vast industrial enclave thousands of miles distant, wedged between villages and wooded areas. And the factory has recently begun 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 left behind. In 2011, researchers found extraordinarily high levels of Pfas in the facility’s effluent. Numerous of residents had been exposed through drinking water.

The most impacted were Miteni’s own workers. Ilario Ermetti, 69, who was employed for years in its specialty chemicals division, displayed among the top levels of PFAS ever recorded in human blood. “When the story came to light, I reviewed a catalog of health issues associated with Pfas, and found out I had them all,” states Ermetti.

Elevated concentrations of PFAS in the bloodstream are associated with higher chances of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, organ impairment, fertility issues and more. Ermetti is presently recuperating from a recent medical procedure.

Public Apprehensions

Michela Piccoli, 51, a nurse and campaigner 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 proprietary information and machinery were being transferred to India, she was shocked.

“Being parents, as women, our anxiety has increased,” she said. “Because our children are the children of all.”

Corporate Transition

Following Miteni’s insolvency, its holdings were acquired 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, the complete machinery was travelling on freight ships heading to Mumbai. At the same time, Laxmi was boasting of its new acquisition to investors. Transcripts of investor gatherings indicate that Laxmi’s executives minimized environmental concerns, with its president, Harshvardhan Goenka, stating that Miteni was “operating lawfully according to EU regulations”.

Goenka is one of the three men on the directorate of Laxmi Organic the Italian branch, a entity founded in 2021. Another is Antonio Nardone, the final CEO of Miteni, who was convicted of ecological offenses and false accounting at the recent court case and given six years and four months in jail. Per a ex-supervisor speaking on condition of anonymity, Nardone was taking business trips to India months before the firm’s collapse.

Although Laxmi bought Miteni’s assets in June 2019, the environmental assessment report for the building of the plant in Lote reveals that in March 2018 the firm was already planning to start producing fluorinated compounds compatible with Miteni’s offerings. Laxmi Organic Industries did not respond to inquiries.

Growth Plans

By 2021, Laxmi’s plan clearly outlined the goal 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 companies with previous commercial ties with Miteni, including BASF, Chemours, DuPont and FMC.

From the beginning of 2025, Laxmi’s location in Lote Parshuram has been fully operational, manufacturing substances that will be used in pesticides, medicines, colorants, beauty products and other products.

Regulatory Context

Studies have shown that levels of persistent pollutants in the environment are alarmingly high, particularly around manufacturing facilities. But even though international attention is growing, in India the matter is not yet a policy priority.

“Examining the rules, [Pfas] is not present in such guidelines. It’s not recognised by the Indian government as of today,” said Rajneesh Gautam, an ecological scientist at the academic institution. “Independent research groups across India have conducted studies in various regions. But this work are limited in scope, and there are still only a handful.”

Local Impact

Parineeta Dandekar, coordinator 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 fishing populations in this region totally deteriorated,” she said.

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

“Nearby communities have consistently reported that it’s not working properly,” said Dandekar. “During power outages, a common occurrence in rural Maharashtra state, the plant cannot function and factories discharge polluted water straight into the streams.” Regulatory bodies have issued multiple notices to the site in recent years.

International Ramifications

In the EU, the regulatory agency is reviewing a proposal to ban the manufacture, importation and use of over ten thousand persistent compounds. This scrutiny may be pushing the industry to the global south, per Claudia Marcolungo, a legal scholar at the academic institution. “I think that this issue should be examined, because the fact that Miteni’s production, patents and equipment have been relocated to a country like India should lead us to reflect, minimally, on the power that these global corporations have to relocate in countries where there is clearly a race to the bottom in terms of environmental protection.”

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 production are likely to affect populations that are facing an unsafe environment for generations.

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