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The lush tropical forest and reddish-brown hills of Lote, located on India’s west coast, lead to a modest rise where a factory looms under the open sky.

This industrial unit is largely newly built, but its equipment is not: it comes from the defunct Miteni plant in Vicenza, Italy. Miteni ceased operations in 2018 following among the most severe ecological controversies in the country’s recent history: after years of manufacturing persistent PFAS compounds, the firm’s leadership was prosecuted for contaminating water sources in an region inhabited by 350,000 people. In June, previous company leaders were found guilty at the Vicenza court of environmental damage and additional offenses and sentenced to jail, which they are expected to appeal against.

Understanding PFAS: Toxicity Levels and Exposure Routes

Nevertheless, the entire operational setup, its intellectual property and processes – all required components to manufacture forever chemicals – is now here in Lote Parshuram MIDC, a large industrial zone almost 4,000 miles away, wedged between villages and groves of trees. And the factory has recently begun to produce forever chemicals again.

An Environmental Burden

Once known for its expertise in developing processes for advanced chemicals, Miteni is now infamous for the harmful aftermath it left behind. In 2011, scientists found extraordinarily high levels of PFAS compounds in the facility’s effluent. Hundreds of thousands of residents had been subjected through drinking water.

The worst-affected were Miteni’s own workers. Ilario Ermetti, 69, who was employed for years in its specialty chemicals division, showed among the top levels of Pfas documented in blood samples. “After the facts emerged, I looked at a catalog of health issues related to PFAS, and discovered I had them all,” states Ermetti.

Elevated concentrations of PFAS in the bloodstream are associated with higher chances of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, liver and kidney damage, fertility issues and additional ailments. Ermetti is presently recuperating from a recent surgical operation.

Public Apprehensions

Michela Piccoli, 51, a healthcare worker and activist with Mothers Against PFAS, began mobilizing after learning her offspring’s blood tests showed elevated amounts of persistent pollutants. When she learned that Miteni’s patents and machinery were being sent to India, she was stunned.

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

Corporate Transition

Following Miteni’s insolvency, its assets were bought in 2019 by Viva Lifesciences, a branch of the Indian chemical company Laxmi Organic Industries – the sole participant in the open sale. By the start of 2023, all the equipment was being shipped heading to Mumbai. Meanwhile, Laxmi was boasting of its recent purchase to shareholders. Transcripts of shareholders’ meetings indicate that Laxmi’s executives minimized environmental concerns, with its chairman, Harshvardhan Goenka, stating that Miteni was “operating lawfully according to European standards”.

Goenka is one of the three men on the directorate of Laxmi Organic Italy, a entity founded in 2021. Another is Antonio Nardone, the last chief executive of Miteni, who was convicted of ecological offenses and financial misreporting at the recent court case 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 firm’s collapse.

Although Laxmi bought Miteni’s properties in June 2019, the environmental assessment report for the building of the plant in Lote shows that in March 2018 the firm was already intending to start producing fluorinated compounds matching Miteni’s offerings. Laxmi Organic Industries did not respond to requests for comment.

Strategic Expansion

By 2021, Laxmi’s strategy explicitly spelled out the objective to “acquire the customer base of Miteni” and emerge as a top player in the manufacturing of Pfas and fluorochemicals. Shipping records show that, to secure validation on the quality of the compounds, in 2024 Laxmi began distributing samples to companies with past business relationships with Miteni, including 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, pharmaceuticals, dyes, cosmetics and additional goods.

Environmental Oversight

Studies have shown that concentrations of persistent pollutants in the environment are alarmingly high, particularly around manufacturing facilities. But even though international attention is growing, in India the issue is not on the political agenda yet.

“Examining the rules, [Pfas] is not present in such guidelines. It’s not recognised by the Indian government currently,” said Rajneesh Gautam, an ecological scientist at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. “Independent research groups across India have performed research in different states. But these studies are limited in scope, and there are still very few of them.”

Local Impact

Parineeta Dandekar, coordinator of the regional environmental group, says the Lote Parshuram industrial district “has a poor ecological history”. After it was set up in 1986, “the income source of fisher folk communities in this area totally deteriorated,” she said.

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

“The local villages have always stated that it’s malfunctioning,” said Dandekar. “During power outages, a common occurrence in rural Maharashtra state, the plant fails to operate and factories release contaminated effluent directly into the streams.” Regulatory bodies have issued multiple notices to the site in recent years.

Global Implications

In the EU, the European Chemical Agency is reviewing a plan to prohibit the manufacture, importation and use of over ten thousand forever chemicals. This scrutiny may be driving the industry to the developing nations, per Claudia Marcolungo, a professor of environmental law at the academic institution. “I think that this matter should be investigated, because the fact that Miteni’s operations, intellectual assets and equipment have been transferred to a nation like India should prompt consideration, at the very least, on the power that these multinationals have to relocate in countries where there is clearly a race to the bottom in terms of environmental protection.”

Ongoing Risks

Miteni has closed down, but the company’s toxic legacy continues – at the contaminated site in Vicenza, and in Lote. The health impacts linked to Pfas production are likely to affect populations that are already struggling with an hazardous setting for generations.

“That region has experienced sufficient environmental destruction already,” says Dandekar. “If more dangerous companies establish presence, it’s perpetually concerning.”