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The dense tropical forest and rust-red hills of Lote, located on India’s west coast, give way 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 following among the most severe ecological controversies in the country’s recent history: after years of manufacturing Pfas forever chemicals, the firm’s leadership was prosecuted for polluting water sources in an region inhabited by 350,000 residents. In June, its former executives were found guilty at the local tribunal of environmental damage and other charges 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 intellectual property and methods – all required components to manufacture Pfas – is now located at Lote Parshuram MIDC, a vast industrial enclave thousands of miles distant, sandwiched among villages and groves of trees. And the factory has just started to produce forever chemicals again.

An Environmental Burden

Once known for its specialism in creating methods for advanced chemicals, Miteni is now infamous for the toxic legacy it left behind. In 2011, scientists found exceptionally elevated concentrations of Pfas in the facility’s effluent. Numerous of inhabitants had been subjected through drinking water.

The worst-affected were Miteni’s employees. Ilario Ermetti, 69, who worked for decades in its fluorinated chemical department, showed among the top levels of PFAS ever recorded in blood samples. “After the facts emerged, I reviewed a list of medical conditions associated with Pfas, and discovered I had them all,” says Ermetti.

High levels of Pfas in the bloodstream are associated with higher chances of malignancies, heart conditions, organ impairment, fertility issues and additional ailments. Ermetti is presently recuperating from a recent medical procedure.

Public Apprehensions

Michela Piccoli, 51, a nurse and campaigner with Mothers Against PFAS, started organizing after discovering her children’s blood indicated elevated amounts of persistent pollutants. When she learned that Miteni’s patents and machinery were being transferred to India, she was stunned.

“As mothers, as females, our anxiety has increased,” she said. “Because our children are everyone’s children.”

Business Shift

Following Miteni’s insolvency, its assets were acquired in 2019 by a pharmaceutical firm, a subsidiary of the domestic chemical corporation Laxmi Organic Industries – the sole participant in the public auction. By the start of 2023, all the equipment was travelling on freight ships heading to Mumbai. Meanwhile, Laxmi was boasting of its new acquisition to shareholders. Transcripts of investor gatherings indicate that Laxmi’s executives minimized ecological worries, with its president, Harshvardhan Goenka, declaring that Miteni was “doing everything legally in compliance with EU regulations”.

Goenka is one of the three men on the board of Laxmi Organic the Italian branch, a entity established in 2021. Another is Antonio Nardone, the final CEO of Miteni, who was found guilty of ecological offenses and false accounting at the recent court case and sentenced to six years and four months in jail. Per a former mid-level manager speaking on condition of anonymity, Nardone was taking business trips to India prior to 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 shows that in March 2018 the firm was already intending to start producing fluorinated compounds compatible with Miteni’s product list. Laxmi Organic Industries declined to answer inquiries.

Strategic Expansion

By 2021, Laxmi’s plan clearly outlined the objective to “capture [the] market share of Miteni” and become a leader in the production of Pfas and fluorochemicals. Shipping records indicate that, to secure validation on the quality of the chemicals, in 2024 Laxmi began distributing samples to companies with past business relationships with Miteni, such as BASF, Chemours, DuPont and FMC.

Since early 2025, Laxmi’s location in Lote Parshuram has been completely active, manufacturing substances that will be used in pesticides, medicines, colorants, cosmetics and additional goods.

Environmental Oversight

Investigations demonstrate that concentrations of persistent pollutants in the ecosystem are alarmingly high, especially near manufacturing facilities. But even though global focus is increasing, in India the matter is not on the political agenda yet.

“If we look at the regulations, [Pfas] is not present in such guidelines. It’s unacknowledged by the Indian government as of today,” said Rajneesh Gautam, an ecological scientist at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. “Independent research groups across India have performed research in various regions. But these studies are restricted in range, and there are still only a handful.”

Regional Consequences

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 livelihood of fisher folk communities in this area totally deteriorated,” she said.

The chemical district is dependent on a shared effluent treatment facility that has been at the forefront of complaints.

“The local villages have always stated that it’s malfunctioning,” said Dandekar. “When there is no electricity, a common occurrence in rural Maharashtra state, the facility fails to operate and factories discharge polluted water directly into the streams.” Environmental authorities have issued several warning letters to the plant in recent years.

International Ramifications

In the EU, the regulatory agency is examining a proposal to ban the production, import and utilization of more than 10,000 persistent compounds. This attention may be driving the sector to the global south, according to Claudia Marcolungo, a legal scholar at the academic institution. “I think that this matter should be examined, because the reality that Miteni’s production, patents and machinery have been relocated to a nation like India should prompt consideration, at the very least, on the power that these multinationals have to move in nations 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 continues – at the contaminated site in Vicenza, and in Lote. The medical effects linked to Pfas production 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.”