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The dense tropical forest and rust-red hills of Lote, situated along India’s west coast, give way to a modest rise where a factory looms under the open sky.

This industrial unit is largely newly built, but its machinery is not: it originates from the defunct Miteni factory in Vicenza, Italy. Miteni closed down in 2018 after one of the worst environmental scandals in the country’s recent history: after decades of producing Pfas forever chemicals, the firm’s leadership was prosecuted for contaminating water sources in an region inhabited by 350,000 residents. In June, its former executives were convicted at the local tribunal of environmental damage and additional offenses and given prison sentences, with appeals anticipated.

Understanding PFAS: Toxicity Levels and Exposure Routes

Nevertheless, all of the company’s equipment, its intellectual property and methods – all required components to produce forever chemicals – is now here in Lote Parshuram MIDC, a vast industrial enclave almost 4,000 miles away, sandwiched among local communities and groves of trees. And the factory has recently begun to produce forever chemicals again.

A Toxic Legacy

Once known for its expertise in developing processes for specialty compounds, Miteni is now notorious for the toxic legacy it bequeathed. In 2011, scientists found extraordinarily high levels of Pfas in the plant’s wastewater. Numerous of inhabitants had been subjected through potable water.

The worst-affected were Miteni’s employees. Ilario Ermetti, 69, who was employed for years in its fluorinated chemical department, displayed one of the highest concentrations of PFAS ever recorded in blood samples. “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 bloodstream are linked to higher chances of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, liver and kidney damage, fertility issues and additional ailments. Ermetti is presently recuperating from a recent medical procedure.

Community Concerns

Michela Piccoli, 51, a nurse and activist with Mamme No Pfas, started organizing after learning her offspring’s blood tests showed elevated amounts of forever chemicals. When she learned that Miteni’s patents and machinery were being transferred 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 Viva Lifesciences, a subsidiary of the domestic chemical corporation Laxmi Organic Industries – the only bidder in the open sale. By the start of 2023, all the equipment was being shipped heading to Mumbai. At the same time, Laxmi was boasting of its recent purchase to shareholders. Records of shareholders’ meetings indicate that Laxmi’s management minimized ecological worries, with its president, Harshvardhan Goenka, declaring that Miteni was “operating lawfully according to 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 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.

Although Laxmi purchased Miteni’s assets in June 2019, the environmental assessment report for the construction of the plant in Lote reveals that in March 2018 the company was already planning to start producing fluorochemicals compatible with Miteni’s offerings. Laxmi Organic Industries did not respond to inquiries.

Strategic Expansion

By 2021, Laxmi’s strategy clearly outlined the objective to “acquire the customer base of Miteni” and emerge as a top player in the production of PFAS and specialty chemicals. Shipping records indicate that, to secure validation on the standard of the compounds, in 2024 Laxmi started sending out test batches to companies with past business relationships with Miteni, including BASF, Chemours, DuPont and FMC.

From the beginning of 2025, Laxmi’s site in Lote Parshuram has been completely active, producing chemicals that will be utilized for agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, colorants, cosmetics and additional goods.

Environmental Oversight

Studies have shown that concentrations of forever chemicals in the environment are alarmingly high, especially near production sites. But although international attention is increasing, in India the issue is not on the political agenda yet.

“If we look at the regulations, [Pfas] is not present in those standards. It’s unacknowledged by the national authorities as of today,” said Rajneesh Gautam, an environmental chemist at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. “Autonomous study teams across India have performed research in different states. But these studies are restricted in range, and there are still only a handful.”

Local Impact

Parineeta Dandekar, head of the regional environmental group, says the Lote Parshuram industrial district “has a dismal environmental track record”. After it was set up in 1986, “the income source of fishing populations 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 malfunctioning,” said Dandekar. “When there is no electricity, a common occurrence in rural Maharashtra state, the facility fails to operate and factories release polluted water straight into the waterways.” Regulatory bodies have sent several warning letters to the plant in the past few years.

Global Implications

In the EU, the regulatory agency is examining a plan to ban the production, importation and utilization of more than 10,000 forever chemicals. This attention may be driving the industry to the developing nations, according to Claudia Marcolungo, a professor of environmental law at the University of Padua. “I think that this issue should be investigated, because the reality that Miteni’s operations, patents and machinery have been transferred to a nation like India should prompt consideration, minimally, on the influence that these global corporations have to relocate in nations where there is evidently a lowering of standards in terms of environmental protection.”

Ongoing Risks

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

“The area has experienced sufficient environmental destruction by now,” says Dandekar. “If more dangerous companies establish presence, it’s always a risk.”