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The dense green jungle and reddish-brown elevations of Lote, situated along India’s west coast, give way to a small hill where a factory looms under the open sky.

The factory is largely newly built, but its equipment is not: it comes from the former Miteni factory in Vicenza, Italy. Miteni ceased operations in 2018 following among the most severe environmental scandals in the nation’s modern record: after decades of producing Pfas forever chemicals, the company’s management was prosecuted for contaminating water sources in an region home to 350,000 residents. In June, its former executives were found guilty at the Vicenza court of causing environmental pollution and other charges and given prison sentences, with appeals anticipated.

Understanding PFAS: Toxicity Levels and Exposure Routes

Nevertheless, the entire operational setup, its intellectual property and methods – all required components to produce forever chemicals – is now here in Lote Parshuram MIDC, a large industrial zone thousands of miles distant, wedged between villages and groves of trees. And the factory has recently begun to resume PFAS production.

A Toxic Legacy

Once known for its expertise in creating methods for specialty compounds, Miteni is now infamous for the harmful aftermath it left behind. In 2011, scientists found extraordinarily high concentrations of PFAS compounds in the plant’s wastewater. Numerous of inhabitants 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 one of the highest concentrations of Pfas documented in blood samples. “After the facts emerged, 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 linked to higher chances of malignancies, cardiovascular diseases, organ impairment, fertility issues and additional ailments. Ermetti is presently recuperating from a recent surgical operation.

Public Apprehensions

Michela Piccoli, 51, a nurse and activist with Mothers Against PFAS, began mobilizing after discovering her children’s blood indicated elevated amounts of forever chemicals. When she found out that Miteni’s proprietary information and equipment were being sent to India, she was shocked.

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

Business Shift

After Miteni went bankrupt, its holdings were acquired in 2019 by a pharmaceutical firm, a branch of the domestic chemical corporation Laxmi Organic Industries – the only bidder in the open sale. By early 2023, the complete machinery was being shipped heading to Mumbai. Meanwhile, Laxmi was boasting of its new acquisition to shareholders. Transcripts of investor gatherings show that Laxmi’s executives downplayed environmental concerns, with its chairman, Harshvardhan Goenka, stating that Miteni was “doing everything legally in compliance with EU regulations”.

Goenka is one of the three men on the directorate of Laxmi Organic Italy, a entity founded in 2021. Also included is Antonio Nardone, the final CEO of Miteni, who was found guilty of environmental pollution and false accounting at the June trial and given six years and four months in jail. According to a former mid-level manager speaking on condition of anonymity, Nardone was traveling for work to India prior to the company went bankrupt.

Although Laxmi purchased Miteni’s properties in June 2019, the ecological review for the construction of the factory in Lote reveals that in March 2018 the firm was already intending to start producing fluorochemicals compatible with Miteni’s offerings. Laxmi Organic Industries declined to answer requests for comment.

Strategic Expansion

By 2021, Laxmi’s plan clearly outlined the goal to “capture [the] market share of Miteni” and emerge as a top player in the manufacturing of Pfas and specialty chemicals. Logistics data indicate that, to secure validation on the quality of the compounds, in 2024 Laxmi started sending out test batches to firms 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 utilized for agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, colorants, cosmetics and other products.

Regulatory Context

Studies have shown that concentrations of persistent pollutants in the environment are worryingly elevated, particularly around production sites. But even though global focus is increasing, in India the issue is not yet a policy priority.

“If we look at the regulations, [Pfas] is absent 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 various regions. But this work are limited in scope, and there are still very few of them.”

Regional Consequences

Parineeta Dandekar, head of the regional environmental group, says the Lote Parshuram industrial district “has a poor ecological history”. After it was established in 1986, “the livelihood of fishing populations in this region completely collapsed,” 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 consistently reported 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 factories release contaminated effluent straight into the streams.” Environmental authorities have sent multiple notices to the plant in recent years.

Global Implications

In the EU, the regulatory agency is reviewing a proposal to prohibit the manufacture, importation and use of over ten thousand persistent compounds. This scrutiny may be pushing the industry to the global south, according to Claudia Marcolungo, a professor of environmental law at the University of Padua. “I believe that this matter should be investigated, because the reality that Miteni’s operations, intellectual assets and equipment have been relocated to a country like India should lead us to reflect, at the very least, on the power that these multinationals have to relocate in countries where there is clearly a race to the bottom in terms of environmental protection.”

Persistent Threats

Miteni has shut down, but the firm’s harmful impact continues – at the contaminated site in Vicenza, and in Lote. The medical effects linked to PFAS manufacturing are expected to impact communities that are facing an hazardous setting for years to come.

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