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The lush green jungle and rust-red hills of Lote, located on India’s western shoreline, lead to a small hill where a factory looms against the sky.

This industrial unit is almost brand new, but its equipment is not: it originates from the former Miteni plant in Vicenza, Italy. Miteni closed down in 2018 after among the most severe ecological controversies in the country’s recent history: after years of manufacturing Pfas forever chemicals, the firm’s leadership was brought to trial for contaminating water sources in an area inhabited by 350,000 people. In June, previous company leaders were convicted at the local tribunal of environmental damage and additional offenses and sentenced to jail, which they are expected to appeal against.

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

Nevertheless, the entire operational setup, its patents and methods – all required components to produce Pfas – 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 plant has just started to resume PFAS production.

An Environmental Burden

Once known for its expertise in creating methods for advanced chemicals, Miteni is now notorious for the toxic legacy it bequeathed. In 2011, scientists found exceptionally elevated levels of Pfas in the facility’s effluent. Hundreds of thousands of inhabitants had been exposed through potable 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 documented in blood samples. “When the story came to light, I looked at a catalog of health issues related to Pfas, and discovered I had them all,” says Ermetti.

Elevated concentrations of Pfas in the bloodstream are associated with higher chances of cancer, heart conditions, liver and kidney damage, reproductive disorders and more. Ermetti is presently recuperating from a recent medical procedure.

Public Apprehensions

Michela Piccoli, 51, a nurse and campaigner with Mothers Against PFAS, began mobilizing after learning her children’s blood indicated elevated amounts of persistent pollutants. When she found out that Miteni’s patents and equipment were being transferred to India, she was stunned.

“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 assets were bought in 2019 by Viva Lifesciences, a branch of the domestic chemical corporation Laxmi Organic Industries – the only bidder in the open sale. By the start of 2023, all the equipment was being shipped heading to Mumbai. Meanwhile, Laxmi was boasting of its new acquisition to investors. Records of investor gatherings show that Laxmi’s executives downplayed environmental concerns, with its chairman, Harshvardhan Goenka, stating that Miteni was “operating lawfully according to European standards”.

Goenka is a member on the board of Laxmi Organic Italy, a company established in 2021. Also included is Antonio Nardone, the final CEO of Miteni, who was found guilty of ecological offenses and financial misreporting at the June trial and sentenced to 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.

Although Laxmi bought Miteni’s assets in June 2019, the environmental assessment report for the construction of the plant in Lote reveals that in March 2018 the firm was already planning to start producing fluorochemicals matching Miteni’s product list. Laxmi Organic Industries declined to answer requests for comment.

Strategic Expansion

By 2021, Laxmi’s strategy clearly outlined the goal to “acquire the customer base of Miteni” and become a leader in the production of PFAS and specialty chemicals. Shipping records show that, to secure validation on the quality 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, dyes, beauty products and other products.

Regulatory Context

Studies have shown that levels of persistent pollutants in the ecosystem are alarmingly high, especially near manufacturing facilities. But although international attention is growing, in India the matter is not yet a policy priority.

“If we look at the regulations, [Pfas] is absent in such guidelines. It’s not recognised by the national authorities as of today,” said Rajneesh Gautam, an ecological scientist at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. “Independent research groups across India have conducted studies in different states. But this work are limited in scope, and there are still very few of them.”

Local Impact

Parineeta Dandekar, coordinator 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 income source of fisher folk communities in this region totally deteriorated,” she said.

The chemical district is dependent on a centralised wastewater treatment plant that has been frequently criticized.

“Nearby communities have always stated that it’s not working properly,” said Dandekar. “During power outages, a common occurrence in the countryside, the facility cannot function and industries release contaminated effluent directly into the waterways.” Regulatory bodies have sent multiple notices to the plant in recent years.

International Ramifications

In the EU, the European Chemical Agency is examining a plan to prohibit the manufacture, importation and utilization of more than 10,000 persistent compounds. This scrutiny may be pushing the sector to the developing nations, per Claudia Marcolungo, a legal scholar at the University of Padua. “I believe that this matter should be investigated, because the fact that Miteni’s production, patents and machinery have been transferred to a nation like India should prompt consideration, minimally, on the power that these multinationals have to move in countries where there is clearly a race to the bottom in terms of environmental protection.”

Persistent Threats

Miteni has closed down, but the company’s toxic legacy lives on – at the contaminated site in Vicenza, and in Lote. The medical effects associated with Pfas production are likely to affect populations that are already struggling with an hazardous setting for years to come.

“The area has experienced sufficient ecological damage by now,” says Dandekar. “If more dangerous companies establish presence, it’s perpetually concerning.”