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

The factory is almost brand new, but its equipment is not: it originates from the defunct 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 polluting water sources in an region inhabited by 350,000 people. In June, its former executives were convicted at the Vicenza court 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, all of the company’s equipment, its intellectual property and methods – everything needed to manufacture forever chemicals – is now here in Lote Parshuram MIDC, a large industrial zone almost 4,000 miles away, sandwiched among villages and groves of trees. And the factory has just started to resume PFAS production.

An Environmental Burden

Once known for its expertise in developing processes for specialty compounds, Miteni is now infamous for the toxic legacy it left behind. In 2011, scientists found exceptionally elevated levels of PFAS compounds in the facility’s effluent. Hundreds of thousands of inhabitants had been subjected through drinking water.

The most impacted were Miteni’s own workers. Ilario Ermetti, 69, who was employed for years in its specialty chemicals division, showed one of the highest concentrations of Pfas ever recorded in blood samples. “After the facts emerged, I reviewed a catalog of health issues related to PFAS, and discovered I had them all,” says Ermetti.

Elevated concentrations of Pfas in the bloodstream are linked to increased risk of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, liver and kidney damage, fertility issues and more. Ermetti is presently recuperating from a recent surgical operation.

Community Concerns

Michela Piccoli, 51, a nurse and activist with Mamme No Pfas, began mobilizing after learning her children’s blood indicated high levels of forever chemicals. When she found out that Miteni’s patents and machinery were being transferred to India, she was stunned.

“As mothers, as females, our concern has grown,” she said. “Since our kids are everyone’s children.”

Business Shift

Following Miteni’s insolvency, its holdings were acquired in 2019 by a pharmaceutical firm, a subsidiary of the domestic chemical corporation Laxmi Organic Industries – the only bidder in the public auction. By early 2023, all the equipment was travelling on freight ships heading to Mumbai. At the same time, Laxmi was promoting 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 “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 financial misreporting at the June trial and sentenced to six years and four months in prison. According to a ex-supervisor requesting confidentiality, Nardone was traveling for work to India prior to the company went bankrupt.

Although Laxmi purchased Miteni’s assets 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 product list. Laxmi Organic Industries did not respond to requests for comment.

Strategic Expansion

By 2021, Laxmi’s plan clearly outlined the goal to “acquire the customer base of Miteni” and become a leader in the production of PFAS and fluorochemicals. Logistics data indicate that, to secure validation on the quality of the chemicals, in 2024 Laxmi began distributing samples to firms 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 utilized for agrochemicals, medicines, dyes, cosmetics and additional goods.

Environmental Oversight

Investigations have shown that levels of persistent pollutants in the ecosystem are alarmingly high, especially near production sites. But even though global focus is increasing, in India the issue is not on the political agenda yet.

“Examining the rules, [Pfas] is not present in such guidelines. It’s unacknowledged by the national authorities as of today,” said Rajneesh Gautam, an environmental chemist at the academic institution. “Independent research groups across India have performed research in various regions. But these studies are limited in scope, 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 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 not working properly,” said Dandekar. “When there is no electricity, a frequent event in rural Maharashtra state, the plant fails to operate and industries release contaminated effluent straight into the streams.” Environmental authorities have issued several warning letters to the site in recent years.

Global Implications

In the EU, the regulatory agency is examining a proposal to prohibit the production, importation and utilization of more than 10,000 forever chemicals. 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 issue should be examined, because the fact that Miteni’s production, patents and equipment have been relocated to a nation like India should lead us to reflect, minimally, on the power that these multinationals have to move in nations where there is clearly a lowering of standards in terms of ecological safeguards.”

Ongoing Risks

Miteni has closed down, but the firm’s harmful impact continues – at the contaminated site in Vicenza, and in Lote. The health impacts linked to Pfas production are expected to impact communities that are facing an unsafe environment for years to come.

“That region has experienced sufficient environmental destruction already,” says Dandekar. “If more dangerous companies move in, it’s always a risk.”