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The lush tropical forest and rust-red hills 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 far from new: it comes from the former Miteni factory in Vicenza, Italy. Miteni closed down in 2018 after among the most severe ecological controversies in the country’s recent history: after decades of producing persistent PFAS compounds, the company’s management was prosecuted for contaminating water resources in an area inhabited by 350,000 people. In June, previous company leaders were convicted at the Vicenza court of environmental damage and additional offenses and sentenced to jail, with appeals anticipated.

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

And yet, all of the company’s equipment, its patents and processes – all required components to manufacture Pfas – is now here in Lote Parshuram MIDC, a large industrial zone thousands of miles distant, sandwiched among villages and wooded areas. And the factory has recently begun to produce forever chemicals again.

A Toxic Legacy

Once known for its specialism in creating methods for advanced chemicals, Miteni is now notorious for the toxic legacy it bequeathed. In 2011, researchers found exceptionally elevated concentrations of Pfas in the facility’s effluent. Numerous of inhabitants had been subjected through potable water.

The most impacted were Miteni’s own workers. Ilario Ermetti, 69, who worked for decades in its fluorinated chemical department, showed one of the highest concentrations of PFAS ever recorded in human blood. “When the story came to light, I reviewed 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, cardiovascular diseases, liver and kidney damage, fertility issues and more. Ermetti is currently recovering from a recent surgical operation.

Community Concerns

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 learned that Miteni’s patents and equipment were being sent to India, she was stunned.

“Being parents, as females, our concern has grown,” she said. “Since our kids are the children of all.”

Business Shift

After Miteni went bankrupt, its assets were acquired in 2019 by Viva Lifesciences, a branch of the domestic chemical corporation Laxmi Organic Industries – the sole participant in the open sale. By the start of 2023, the complete machinery was being shipped heading to Mumbai. Meanwhile, Laxmi was boasting of its recent purchase to shareholders. Transcripts of shareholders’ meetings show that Laxmi’s executives minimized ecological worries, with its president, Harshvardhan Goenka, stating that Miteni was “doing everything legally in compliance with EU regulations”.

Goenka is a member on the board of Laxmi Organic the Italian branch, a entity founded in 2021. Another is Antonio Nardone, the last chief executive of Miteni, who was convicted of ecological offenses and financial misreporting at the recent court case and given six years and four months in prison. Per a former mid-level manager 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 reveals that in March 2018 the firm was already planning to start producing fluorochemicals matching Miteni’s product list. Laxmi Organic Industries did not respond to inquiries.

Growth Plans

By 2021, Laxmi’s strategy explicitly spelled out the objective to “capture [the] market share of Miteni” and emerge as a top player in the manufacturing of Pfas and fluorochemicals. Shipping records 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.

Since early 2025, Laxmi’s site in Lote Parshuram has been fully operational, manufacturing substances that will be utilized for agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, colorants, cosmetics and other products.

Environmental Oversight

Investigations have shown that concentrations of persistent pollutants in the environment are alarmingly high, particularly around 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. “Independent research groups across India have conducted studies in various regions. But these studies are limited in scope, and there are still only a handful.”

Regional Consequences

Parineeta Dandekar, coordinator of the regional environmental group, 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 area completely collapsed,” she said.

The industrial area is dependent on 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 plant cannot function and industries release contaminated effluent directly into the waterways.” Environmental authorities have sent multiple notices to the site in recent years.

Global Implications

In the EU, the European Chemical Agency is examining a proposal to prohibit the manufacture, import and utilization of more than 10,000 persistent compounds. This attention may be driving the sector to the developing nations, 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 operations, intellectual assets and equipment have been relocated 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 race to the bottom in terms of environmental protection.”

Ongoing Risks

Miteni has shut down, but the firm’s harmful impact continues – at the contaminated site in Vicenza, and in Lote. The health impacts associated with PFAS manufacturing are likely to affect communities that are facing an unsafe environment for years to come.

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