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The lush tropical forest and reddish-brown elevations of Lote, located on India’s western shoreline, give way to a small hill where a factory looms against the sky.

This industrial unit is almost brand new, but its machinery is not: it comes from the former Miteni plant in Vicenza, Italy. Miteni ceased operations in 2018 after among the most severe ecological controversies in the country’s recent history: after years of manufacturing persistent PFAS compounds, the company’s management was brought to trial for contaminating water resources in an area inhabited by 350,000 residents. In June, its former executives were found guilty at the Vicenza court of causing environmental pollution and additional offenses and sentenced to jail, with appeals anticipated.

Understanding PFAS: Toxicity Levels and Exposure Routes

Nevertheless, the entire operational setup, its intellectual property and processes – all required components to manufacture Pfas – is now located at Lote Parshuram MIDC, a vast industrial enclave almost 4,000 miles away, wedged between local communities and wooded areas. And the factory has recently begun to produce forever chemicals again.

An Environmental Burden

Once known for its expertise in developing processes for advanced chemicals, Miteni is now infamous for the toxic legacy it bequeathed. In 2011, scientists found extraordinarily high levels of PFAS compounds in the plant’s wastewater. Numerous of residents had been subjected through drinking water.

The worst-affected were Miteni’s own workers. Ilario Ermetti, 69, who worked for decades in its fluorinated chemical department, showed among the top levels of Pfas ever recorded in human blood. “After the facts emerged, I looked at a catalog of health issues associated with PFAS, and found out I had them all,” says Ermetti.

High levels of PFAS in the bloodstream are associated with higher chances of malignancies, cardiovascular diseases, organ impairment, fertility issues and additional ailments. Ermetti is currently recovering from a recent medical procedure.

Community Concerns

Michela Piccoli, 51, a nurse and campaigner with Mamme No Pfas, began mobilizing after learning her offspring’s blood tests showed high levels of forever chemicals. When she found out that Miteni’s patents and machinery were being sent to India, she was shocked.

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

Corporate Transition

Following Miteni’s insolvency, its holdings were acquired in 2019 by a pharmaceutical firm, a branch of the domestic chemical corporation Laxmi Organic Industries – the sole participant in the public auction. By the start of 2023, the complete machinery was travelling on freight ships en route to Mumbai. Meanwhile, Laxmi was promoting its recent purchase to shareholders. Records of investor gatherings indicate that Laxmi’s management minimized environmental concerns, with its chairman, Harshvardhan Goenka, stating that Miteni was “operating lawfully according to EU regulations”.

Goenka is one of the three men on the board of Laxmi Organic the Italian branch, a company 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. According to a former mid-level manager requesting confidentiality, Nardone was traveling for work to India months before the company went bankrupt.

Although Laxmi purchased Miteni’s assets in June 2019, the environmental assessment report for the building of the factory in Lote shows that in March 2018 the firm was already intending to commence manufacturing fluorochemicals matching 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. Logistics data show that, to secure validation on the quality of the compounds, in 2024 Laxmi started sending out samples to companies 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 fully operational, manufacturing substances that will be used in pesticides, pharmaceuticals, dyes, cosmetics and additional goods.

Environmental Oversight

Studies have shown that concentrations of persistent pollutants in the environment are worryingly elevated, especially near manufacturing facilities. But even though 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 Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. “Autonomous study teams across India have performed research in various regions. But this work are restricted in range, and there are still only a handful.”

Local Impact

Parineeta Dandekar, head of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers, and People, says the Lote Parshuram industrial district “has a poor ecological history”. After it was established in 1986, “the income source of fisher folk communities 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 always stated that it’s malfunctioning,” said Dandekar. “During power outages, a frequent event in the countryside, the plant cannot function and factories release polluted water directly into the waterways.” Regulatory bodies have sent multiple notices to the plant in the past few years.

Global Implications

In the EU, the European Chemical Agency is examining a proposal to ban the manufacture, import and utilization of over ten thousand persistent compounds. This attention may be driving the sector to the global south, per Claudia Marcolungo, a professor of environmental law at the academic institution. “I believe that this matter should be examined, because the fact that Miteni’s production, intellectual assets and equipment have been relocated to a country like India should prompt consideration, at the very least, on the power that these multinationals have to relocate in nations where there is evidently a race to the bottom in terms of environmental protection.”

Persistent Threats

Miteni has shut down, but the company’s toxic legacy lives on – at the contaminated site in Vicenza, and in Lote. The medical effects linked to PFAS manufacturing are expected to impact communities that are already struggling with an hazardous setting for years to come.

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