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The dense green jungle and rust-red elevations of Lote, situated along India’s western shoreline, lead to a small hill where a industrial facility stands against the sky.

The factory is almost brand new, but its equipment is far from new: it comes from the defunct Miteni factory in Vicenza, Italy. Miteni ceased operations in 2018 following one of the worst ecological controversies in the nation’s modern record: after years of manufacturing persistent PFAS compounds, the firm’s leadership was prosecuted for contaminating water resources in an region home to 350,000 residents. In June, its former executives were convicted at the local tribunal of environmental damage and other charges and sentenced to jail, 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 manufacture Pfas – is now located at Lote Parshuram MIDC, a large industrial zone almost 4,000 miles away, sandwiched among local communities and groves of trees. And the factory has just started to resume PFAS production.

A Toxic Legacy

Previously recognized for its specialism in creating methods for advanced chemicals, Miteni is now notorious for the harmful aftermath it left behind. In 2011, researchers found extraordinarily high concentrations of PFAS compounds in the plant’s wastewater. 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 ever recorded 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 blood are linked to increased risk of malignancies, heart conditions, liver and kidney damage, reproductive disorders and additional ailments. Ermetti is presently recuperating from a recent medical procedure.

Public Apprehensions

Michela Piccoli, 51, a nurse and campaigner with Mamme No Pfas, began mobilizing after learning her children’s blood showed elevated amounts of persistent pollutants. When she found out that Miteni’s proprietary information and machinery were being transferred to India, she was stunned.

“As mothers, as females, our concern has grown,” she said. “Because our children are the children of all.”

Corporate Transition

After Miteni went bankrupt, its assets were acquired in 2019 by Viva Lifesciences, a subsidiary 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 en route 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 chairman, Harshvardhan Goenka, stating that Miteni was “operating lawfully according to European standards”.

Goenka is a member on the directorate of Laxmi Organic Italy, a entity established in 2021. Another is Antonio Nardone, the final CEO of Miteni, who was convicted of ecological offenses and financial misreporting at the June trial and sentenced to six years and four months in jail. Per a ex-supervisor speaking on condition of anonymity, Nardone was traveling for work to India months before the company went bankrupt.

While Laxmi purchased Miteni’s properties in June 2019, the ecological review for the building of the factory in Lote shows that in March 2018 the company was already planning to commence manufacturing fluorinated compounds compatible with Miteni’s product list. Laxmi Organic Industries declined to answer requests for comment.

Growth Plans

By 2021, Laxmi’s strategy clearly outlined the objective to “acquire the customer base of Miteni” and emerge as a top player in the manufacturing of PFAS and fluorochemicals. Logistics data show that, to secure validation on the standard of the compounds, in 2024 Laxmi began distributing test batches to companies with past business relationships with Miteni, including BASF, Chemours, DuPont and FMC.

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

Environmental Oversight

Studies demonstrate that levels of persistent pollutants in the environment are worryingly elevated, 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 not present in such guidelines. It’s unacknowledged by the Indian government currently,” said Rajneesh Gautam, an ecological scientist at the academic institution. “Independent research groups across India have conducted studies in different states. But these studies are restricted in range, and there are still very few of them.”

Local Impact

Parineeta Dandekar, head 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 totally deteriorated,” she said.

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

“The local villages have consistently reported that it’s malfunctioning,” said Dandekar. “During power outages, a frequent event in rural Maharashtra state, the facility cannot function and industries release 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 examining a proposal to prohibit the manufacture, importation and use of more than 10,000 forever chemicals. This attention may be pushing the industry to the global south, according to Claudia Marcolungo, a professor of environmental law at the academic institution. “I believe that this matter should be investigated, because the fact that Miteni’s operations, patents and machinery have been relocated to a nation like India should prompt consideration, minimally, on the influence that these global corporations have to relocate in countries where there is evidently a lowering of standards 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 linked to Pfas production are expected to impact populations that are already struggling with an unsafe environment for generations.

“The area has seen enough environmental destruction by now,” says Dandekar. “Should additional hazardous firms move in, it’s perpetually concerning.”