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The dense green jungle and rust-red elevations of Lote, situated along India’s western shoreline, give way to a modest rise where a factory looms against the sky.

The factory is largely newly built, but its equipment is not: it originates from the defunct Miteni plant in Vicenza, Italy. Miteni closed down in 2018 following one of the worst ecological controversies in the country’s recent history: after years of manufacturing persistent PFAS compounds, the firm’s leadership was prosecuted for contaminating water sources in an area inhabited by 350,000 residents. In June, previous company leaders were found guilty at the local tribunal of causing environmental pollution and other charges and sentenced to jail, with appeals anticipated.

Understanding PFAS: Toxicity Levels and Exposure Routes

Nevertheless, all of the company’s equipment, its patents and processes – all required components to produce forever chemicals – is now located at Lote Parshuram MIDC, a vast industrial enclave thousands of miles distant, sandwiched among villages and groves of trees. And the factory has recently begun to resume PFAS production.

A Toxic Legacy

Previously recognized for its expertise in creating methods for advanced chemicals, Miteni is now notorious for the toxic legacy it bequeathed. In 2011, researchers found exceptionally elevated levels of PFAS compounds in the plant’s wastewater. Numerous of residents had been subjected through potable water.

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

High levels of PFAS in the blood are associated with increased risk of cancer, heart conditions, organ impairment, fertility issues and more. Ermetti is presently recuperating from a recent medical procedure.

Public Apprehensions

Michela Piccoli, 51, a nurse and campaigner with Mamme No Pfas, started organizing after learning her offspring’s blood tests showed high levels of forever chemicals. When she found out that Miteni’s proprietary information and machinery were being transferred to India, she was stunned.

“Being parents, as women, our anxiety has increased,” she said. “Since our kids are everyone’s children.”

Corporate Transition

After Miteni went bankrupt, 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 investors. Transcripts of shareholders’ meetings show that Laxmi’s executives minimized ecological worries, with its president, Harshvardhan Goenka, stating that Miteni was “operating lawfully in compliance with European standards”.

Goenka is a member on the directorate of Laxmi Organic Italy, a company established in 2021. Also included is Antonio Nardone, the final CEO of Miteni, who was found guilty of ecological offenses and false accounting 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 prior to the firm’s collapse.

Although Laxmi purchased Miteni’s properties in June 2019, the ecological review for the construction of the factory in Lote shows that in March 2018 the company was already planning to start producing fluorochemicals compatible with Miteni’s product list. Laxmi Organic Industries did not respond to requests for comment.

Growth Plans

By 2021, Laxmi’s strategy clearly outlined the objective to “capture [the] market share of Miteni” and emerge as a top player in the production of Pfas and fluorochemicals. Shipping records show that, to secure validation on the quality of the compounds, in 2024 Laxmi began distributing samples to companies with previous commercial ties with Miteni, including BASF, Chemours, DuPont and FMC.

Since early 2025, Laxmi’s location in Lote Parshuram has been fully operational, manufacturing substances that will be used in agrochemicals, medicines, colorants, beauty products and other products.

Environmental Oversight

Investigations demonstrate that concentrations of persistent pollutants in the ecosystem are alarmingly high, especially near manufacturing facilities. But even though international attention is growing, in India the issue is not yet a policy priority.

“Examining the rules, [Pfas] is not present in those standards. It’s unacknowledged by the national authorities currently,” said Rajneesh Gautam, an environmental chemist at the academic institution. “Autonomous study teams across India have conducted studies in different states. But these studies are limited in scope, and there are still only a handful.”

Regional Consequences

Parineeta Dandekar, head of the regional environmental group, says the Lote Parshuram industrial district “has a poor ecological history”. After it was set up in 1986, “the income source of fishing populations in this region totally deteriorated,” she said.

The chemical district is dependent on a centralised wastewater treatment plant that has been frequently criticized.

“Nearby communities have consistently reported that it’s malfunctioning,” said Dandekar. “During power outages, a common occurrence in rural Maharashtra state, the plant cannot function and factories release polluted water straight into the streams.” Environmental authorities have sent several warning letters to the plant in the past few years.

International Ramifications

In the EU, the European Chemical Agency is examining a plan to prohibit the manufacture, import and use of over ten thousand persistent compounds. This attention may be pushing the industry to the developing nations, per Claudia Marcolungo, a legal scholar at the University of Padua. “I believe that this issue should be examined, because the fact that Miteni’s operations, intellectual assets and machinery have been transferred to a country like India should lead us to reflect, minimally, on the influence that these global corporations have to relocate in countries where there is evidently a race to the bottom in terms of environmental protection.”

Ongoing Risks

Miteni has closed down, but the company’s toxic legacy continues – at the contaminated site in Vicenza, and in Lote. The medical effects linked to Pfas production are expected to impact communities that are already struggling with an hazardous setting for generations.

“That region has seen enough environmental destruction already,” says Dandekar. “Should additional hazardous firms establish presence, it’s always a risk.”