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The lush green jungle and rust-red elevations of Lote, located on India’s west coast, lead to a small hill where a industrial facility stands against the sky.

The factory is almost brand new, but its equipment is far from new: it originates from the former Miteni plant in Vicenza, Italy. Miteni ceased operations in 2018 following among the most severe ecological controversies in the nation’s modern record: after years of manufacturing persistent PFAS compounds, the firm’s leadership was prosecuted for contaminating water sources in an region home to 350,000 residents. In June, its former executives were found guilty at the local tribunal of environmental damage and additional offenses and given prison sentences, with appeals anticipated.

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

And yet, the entire operational setup, its intellectual property and processes – all required components to produce Pfas – is now located at Lote Parshuram MIDC, a large industrial zone thousands of miles distant, sandwiched among local communities and groves of trees. And the plant has recently begun to resume PFAS production.

A Toxic Legacy

Once known for its specialism in developing processes for specialty compounds, Miteni is now infamous for the toxic legacy it bequeathed. In 2011, researchers found extraordinarily high levels of PFAS compounds in the plant’s wastewater. Hundreds of thousands of inhabitants had been subjected through drinking water.

The most impacted were Miteni’s own workers. Ilario Ermetti, 69, who was employed for years in its specialty chemicals division, showed among the top levels of Pfas ever recorded in human blood. “When the story came to light, I reviewed a list of medical conditions related to Pfas, and found out I had them all,” states Ermetti.

Elevated concentrations of Pfas in the blood are associated with higher chances of cancer, heart conditions, liver and kidney damage, fertility issues and more. Ermetti is presently recuperating from a recent medical procedure.

Public Apprehensions

Michela Piccoli, 51, a healthcare worker and activist with Mamme No Pfas, began mobilizing after learning her children’s blood showed elevated amounts of persistent pollutants. When she learned that Miteni’s proprietary information and machinery were being transferred to India, she was shocked.

“Being parents, as women, our anxiety has increased,” she said. “Since our kids are the children of all.”

Business Shift

Following Miteni’s insolvency, its holdings were acquired in 2019 by Viva Lifesciences, a subsidiary of the Indian chemical company Laxmi Organic Industries – the sole participant in the public auction. By early 2023, the complete machinery was being shipped heading to Mumbai. Meanwhile, Laxmi was boasting of its new acquisition to shareholders. Records of investor gatherings indicate that Laxmi’s management downplayed ecological worries, with its president, Harshvardhan Goenka, declaring that Miteni was “operating lawfully according to EU regulations”.

Goenka is a member on the board of Laxmi Organic the Italian branch, a company founded in 2021. Another is Antonio Nardone, the last chief executive of Miteni, who was convicted of environmental pollution and financial misreporting at the recent court case and sentenced to six years and four months in prison. Per a former mid-level manager speaking on condition of anonymity, Nardone was traveling for work to India prior to the company went bankrupt.

Although Laxmi bought Miteni’s properties in June 2019, the ecological review for the building of the factory in Lote reveals that in March 2018 the company was already planning to commence manufacturing fluorochemicals matching Miteni’s product list. Laxmi Organic Industries declined to answer requests for comment.

Growth Plans

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 secure validation on the standard of the chemicals, in 2024 Laxmi started sending out test batches to companies with previous commercial ties with Miteni, including BASF, Chemours, DuPont and FMC.

Since early 2025, Laxmi’s site in Lote Parshuram has been completely active, manufacturing substances that will be utilized for pesticides, medicines, dyes, beauty products and additional goods.

Environmental Oversight

Studies have shown that levels of forever chemicals in the ecosystem are alarmingly high, particularly around production sites. But even though international attention is growing, in India the matter is not on the political agenda yet.

“Examining the rules, [Pfas] is absent in such guidelines. It’s unacknowledged by the Indian government as of today,” said Rajneesh Gautam, an ecological scientist at the academic institution. “Independent research groups across India have conducted studies in various regions. But these studies are restricted in range, and there are still very few of them.”

Local Impact

Parineeta Dandekar, coordinator of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers, and People, says the Lote Parshuram industrial district “has a dismal environmental track record”. After it was set up in 1986, “the income source of fisher folk communities in this region totally deteriorated,” she said.

The chemical district is served by a shared effluent treatment facility that has been frequently criticized.

“Nearby communities have consistently reported that it’s malfunctioning,” said Dandekar. “During power outages, a frequent event in the countryside, the plant fails to operate and factories release contaminated effluent straight into the waterways.” Environmental authorities have issued multiple notices to the plant in the past few years.

Global Implications

In the EU, the European Chemical Agency is reviewing a plan to prohibit the production, importation and use of over ten thousand forever chemicals. This attention may be driving the industry to the global south, per Claudia Marcolungo, a professor of environmental law at the academic institution. “I think that this matter should be investigated, because the fact that Miteni’s operations, patents and machinery have been transferred to a country like India should prompt consideration, at the very least, on the influence that these global corporations have to move in countries where there is clearly a race to the bottom in terms of ecological safeguards.”

Persistent Threats

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 manufacturing are expected to impact communities that are facing an unsafe environment for years to come.

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