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The lush green jungle and reddish-brown elevations of Lote, situated along India’s west coast, give way to a modest rise where a industrial facility stands against the sky.

The factory is almost brand new, but its machinery is not: it originates from the former Miteni factory 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 brought to trial for contaminating water sources in an area inhabited by 350,000 people. In June, its former executives were found guilty at the Vicenza court of environmental damage and other charges and sentenced to jail, which they are expected to appeal against.

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And yet, the entire operational setup, its intellectual property and methods – everything needed to produce Pfas – is now located at Lote Parshuram MIDC, a vast industrial enclave almost 4,000 miles away, wedged between villages and groves of trees. And the plant has just started to resume PFAS production.

A Toxic Legacy

Once known for its expertise in developing processes for specialty compounds, Miteni is now notorious for the harmful aftermath it bequeathed. In 2011, researchers found extraordinarily high concentrations of PFAS compounds in the plant’s wastewater. Numerous of residents had been exposed through drinking water.

The worst-affected were Miteni’s own workers. Ilario Ermetti, 69, who was employed for years in its fluorinated chemical department, showed among the top levels of Pfas documented in blood samples. “When the story came to light, I looked at a list of medical conditions associated with PFAS, and found out I had them all,” says Ermetti.

Elevated concentrations of PFAS in the blood are associated with higher chances of cancer, heart conditions, organ impairment, fertility issues and additional ailments. Ermetti is presently recuperating from a recent medical procedure.

Community Concerns

Michela Piccoli, 51, a healthcare worker and activist with Mamme No Pfas, started organizing after learning her offspring’s blood tests showed elevated amounts of forever chemicals. When she learned that Miteni’s proprietary information and machinery were being sent to India, she was stunned.

“As mothers, as women, our anxiety has increased,” she said. “Since our kids are the children of all.”

Corporate Transition

After Miteni went bankrupt, its assets were acquired in 2019 by a pharmaceutical firm, a subsidiary 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 en route to Mumbai. At the same time, Laxmi was boasting of its recent purchase to investors. Records of shareholders’ meetings indicate that Laxmi’s executives minimized ecological worries, with its chairman, Harshvardhan Goenka, declaring that Miteni was “operating lawfully in compliance with European standards”.

Goenka is a member on the board of Laxmi Organic the Italian branch, a entity founded in 2021. Another is Antonio Nardone, the final CEO of Miteni, who was found guilty of environmental pollution and false accounting at the June trial and sentenced to six years and four months in prison. According to a ex-supervisor requesting confidentiality, Nardone was taking business trips to India months before the firm’s collapse.

While Laxmi bought Miteni’s properties in June 2019, the ecological review for the construction of the plant in Lote shows that in March 2018 the company was already intending to commence manufacturing fluorinated compounds compatible with Miteni’s offerings. Laxmi Organic Industries declined to answer requests for comment.

Growth Plans

By 2021, Laxmi’s plan explicitly spelled out the objective to “acquire the customer base of Miteni” and become a leader in the manufacturing of PFAS and fluorochemicals. Shipping records show that, to secure validation on the standard of the compounds, in 2024 Laxmi started sending out 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, manufacturing substances that will be used in agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, colorants, beauty products and additional goods.

Regulatory Context

Studies have shown that concentrations of forever chemicals in the environment are alarmingly high, particularly around production sites. But although international attention is increasing, 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 Indian government currently,” said Rajneesh Gautam, an ecological scientist at the academic institution. “Autonomous study teams across India have conducted studies in various regions. But this work are limited in scope, and there are still very few of them.”

Regional Consequences

Parineeta Dandekar, coordinator of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers, and People, says the Lote Parshuram industrial district “has a dismal environmental track record”. After it was set up in 1986, “the income source of fishing populations in this region completely collapsed,” she said.

The chemical district is dependent on 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. “When there is no electricity, a frequent event in the countryside, the facility cannot function and industries discharge contaminated effluent directly into the waterways.” Environmental authorities have sent several warning letters to the site in recent years.

International Ramifications

In the EU, the regulatory agency is reviewing a plan to ban the production, importation and use of over ten thousand forever chemicals. This attention may be pushing the industry to the developing nations, per Claudia Marcolungo, a professor of environmental law at the academic institution. “I think that this issue should be examined, because the fact that Miteni’s operations, patents and equipment have been relocated to a country like India should lead us to reflect, at the very least, on the influence that these global corporations have to relocate in countries where there is evidently a race to the bottom in terms of environmental protection.”

Ongoing Risks

Miteni has closed down, but the firm’s harmful impact continues – at the polluted location in Vicenza, and in Lote. The medical effects associated with PFAS manufacturing are likely to affect populations that are facing an hazardous setting for generations.

“The area has seen enough environmental destruction already,” says Dandekar. “If more dangerous companies establish presence, it’s perpetually concerning.”