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The lush green jungle and rust-red hills of Lote, located on India’s west coast, give way to a modest rise where a industrial facility stands under the open sky.

The factory is largely newly built, but its equipment is far from new: it originates from the defunct Miteni factory in Vicenza, Italy. Miteni ceased operations in 2018 after among the most severe ecological controversies in the country’s recent history: after decades of producing Pfas forever chemicals, the firm’s leadership was brought to trial for polluting water sources in an area home to 350,000 people. In June, previous company leaders were convicted at the local tribunal of causing environmental pollution 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?

And yet, the entire operational setup, its patents and methods – all required components to produce Pfas – is now here in Lote Parshuram MIDC, a vast industrial enclave almost 4,000 miles away, sandwiched among villages and wooded areas. And the factory has recently begun to produce forever chemicals again.

An Environmental Burden

Previously recognized for its expertise in creating methods for specialty compounds, Miteni is now notorious for the harmful aftermath it bequeathed. In 2011, researchers found extraordinarily high levels of Pfas in the plant’s wastewater. Hundreds of thousands of inhabitants had been subjected through potable water.

The most impacted 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 ever recorded in human blood. “After the facts emerged, I looked at a catalog of health issues related to PFAS, and found out I had them all,” states Ermetti.

High levels of PFAS in the blood are linked to higher chances of malignancies, 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 Mothers Against PFAS, started organizing after discovering her offspring’s blood tests showed high levels of forever chemicals. When she learned that Miteni’s patents and equipment were being transferred to India, she was stunned.

“As mothers, as women, our concern has grown,” she said. “Since our kids are everyone’s children.”

Corporate Transition

Following Miteni’s insolvency, its holdings were bought in 2019 by a pharmaceutical firm, a subsidiary of the domestic chemical corporation Laxmi Organic Industries – the only bidder in the open sale. By the start of 2023, the complete machinery was being shipped heading to Mumbai. Meanwhile, Laxmi was promoting its recent purchase to shareholders. Records of shareholders’ meetings show that Laxmi’s management minimized environmental concerns, with its president, Harshvardhan Goenka, declaring that Miteni was “doing everything legally according to European standards”.

Goenka is a member on the directorate of Laxmi Organic Italy, a company established in 2021. Another is Antonio Nardone, the last chief executive of Miteni, who was found guilty of ecological offenses and false accounting at the June trial and sentenced to six years and four months in prison. According to a former mid-level manager speaking on condition of anonymity, Nardone was taking business trips to India prior to the company went bankrupt.

Although Laxmi purchased Miteni’s assets in June 2019, the ecological review for the building of the factory in Lote shows that in March 2018 the firm was already intending to commence manufacturing fluorinated compounds matching Miteni’s product list. Laxmi Organic Industries declined to answer inquiries.

Strategic Expansion

By 2021, Laxmi’s strategy clearly outlined the goal to “acquire the customer base of Miteni” and become a leader in the production of PFAS and fluorochemicals. Logistics data indicate that, to get approval on the quality of the compounds, in 2024 Laxmi began distributing 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 fully operational, producing chemicals that will be used in agrochemicals, medicines, colorants, cosmetics and other products.

Regulatory Context

Studies demonstrate that concentrations of forever chemicals in the environment are alarmingly high, especially near manufacturing facilities. But although international attention is increasing, in India the matter is not on the political agenda yet.

“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 environmental chemist at the academic institution. “Autonomous study teams across India have performed research in various regions. But these studies are restricted in range, and there are still very few of them.”

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 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.

“Nearby communities have consistently reported that it’s not working properly,” said Dandekar. “During power outages, a frequent event in the countryside, the plant fails to operate and industries release contaminated effluent directly into the waterways.” Environmental authorities have sent multiple notices to the plant in recent years.

Global Implications

In the EU, the regulatory agency is reviewing a plan to ban the production, import and utilization of more than 10,000 persistent compounds. This scrutiny may be driving the sector to the global south, according to Claudia Marcolungo, a legal scholar at the University of Padua. “I think that this issue should be investigated, because the reality that Miteni’s operations, intellectual assets and equipment have been transferred to a nation like India should lead us to reflect, minimally, on the influence that these global corporations have to relocate in countries where there is clearly a lowering of standards in terms of environmental protection.”

Ongoing Risks

Miteni has closed down, but the firm’s harmful impact lives on – at the contaminated site in Vicenza, and in Lote. The medical effects associated with Pfas production are likely to affect populations that are already struggling with an unsafe environment for generations.

“The area has experienced sufficient ecological damage already,” says Dandekar. “Should additional hazardous firms move in, it’s perpetually concerning.”