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The dense tropical forest and reddish-brown hills of Lote, located on India’s west coast, lead to a modest rise where a industrial facility stands under the open sky.

This industrial unit is largely newly built, but its machinery is far from new: it comes from the former Miteni factory in Vicenza, Italy. Miteni ceased operations in 2018 after one of the worst ecological controversies in the country’s recent history: after decades of producing persistent PFAS compounds, the company’s management was brought to trial for polluting water sources in an area home to 350,000 residents. In June, its former executives were convicted at the local tribunal of environmental damage and additional offenses and sentenced to jail, which they are expected to appeal against.

What are PFAS, how toxic are they and how do you become exposed?

Nevertheless, all of the company’s equipment, its patents and methods – everything needed to produce forever chemicals – is now located at Lote Parshuram MIDC, a vast industrial enclave thousands of miles distant, wedged between villages and wooded areas. And the plant has just started to resume PFAS production.

An Environmental Burden

Once known for its specialism in developing processes for specialty compounds, Miteni is now notorious for the toxic legacy it bequeathed. In 2011, scientists found exceptionally elevated concentrations of Pfas in the plant’s wastewater. Hundreds of thousands of residents had been subjected through drinking water.

The most impacted were Miteni’s employees. Ilario Ermetti, 69, who was employed for years in its specialty chemicals division, displayed one of the highest concentrations of Pfas documented in human blood. “When the story came to light, I reviewed a list of medical conditions related to Pfas, and discovered I had them all,” says Ermetti.

Elevated concentrations of PFAS in the bloodstream are linked to higher chances of malignancies, heart conditions, liver and kidney damage, fertility issues and additional ailments. Ermetti is currently recovering from a recent surgical operation.

Public Apprehensions

Michela Piccoli, 51, a nurse and campaigner with Mothers Against PFAS, began mobilizing after learning her offspring’s blood tests indicated elevated amounts of persistent pollutants. When she learned that Miteni’s patents and equipment were being sent to India, she was shocked.

“Being parents, as females, our concern has grown,” she said. “Since our kids are the children of all.”

Corporate Transition

After Miteni went bankrupt, its assets were acquired in 2019 by Viva Lifesciences, a branch 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. Meanwhile, Laxmi was promoting its recent purchase to shareholders. Records of investor gatherings show that Laxmi’s executives downplayed environmental concerns, with its chairman, Harshvardhan Goenka, stating that Miteni was “operating lawfully according to EU regulations”.

Goenka is a member on the directorate of Laxmi Organic Italy, a entity founded in 2021. Another is Antonio Nardone, the final CEO of Miteni, who was found guilty of ecological offenses and financial misreporting at the recent court case and sentenced to six years and four months in prison. Per a ex-supervisor speaking on condition of anonymity, Nardone was taking business trips to India months before the firm’s collapse.

While Laxmi bought Miteni’s properties in June 2019, the environmental assessment report for the building of the factory in Lote shows that in March 2018 the company was already planning to start producing fluorinated compounds matching Miteni’s product list. Laxmi Organic Industries declined to answer inquiries.

Growth Plans

By 2021, Laxmi’s strategy clearly outlined the goal to “capture [the] market share of Miteni” and become a leader in the production of Pfas and specialty chemicals. Logistics data show that, to get approval on the standard of the compounds, in 2024 Laxmi started sending out test batches to firms with previous commercial ties with Miteni, such as 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, colorants, cosmetics and other products.

Regulatory Context

Investigations have shown that concentrations of persistent pollutants in the environment are worryingly elevated, particularly around manufacturing facilities. But even though international attention is growing, in India the issue is not on the political agenda yet.

“Examining the rules, [Pfas] is absent in those standards. It’s unacknowledged by the national authorities as of today,” said Rajneesh Gautam, an environmental chemist at the academic institution. “Autonomous study teams across India have performed research in different states. But these studies 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 manufacturing zone “has a poor ecological history”. After it was established in 1986, “the livelihood 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 always stated that it’s not working properly,” said Dandekar. “During power outages, a common occurrence in the countryside, the facility cannot function and industries discharge polluted water directly into the waterways.” Environmental authorities have issued multiple notices to the plant in the past few years.

International Ramifications

In the EU, the European Chemical Agency is examining a proposal to ban the manufacture, importation and utilization of over ten thousand persistent compounds. This scrutiny may be driving the industry to the developing nations, per Claudia Marcolungo, a legal scholar at the academic institution. “I think that this matter should be examined, because the fact that Miteni’s production, intellectual assets and machinery have been relocated to a country like India should lead us to reflect, at the very least, on the power that these global corporations have to relocate in nations where there is clearly a lowering of standards in terms of environmental protection.”

Persistent Threats

Miteni has closed down, but the firm’s harmful impact lives on – at the polluted location 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 years to come.

“That region has seen enough environmental destruction by now,” says Dandekar. “If more dangerous companies move in, it’s perpetually concerning.”