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The lush tropical forest and reddish-brown hills of Lote, located on India’s west coast, lead to a modest rise where a factory looms against the sky.

The factory is almost brand new, but its equipment is not: it originates from the former Miteni factory in Vicenza, Italy. Miteni ceased operations in 2018 after one of the worst environmental scandals in the nation’s modern record: after decades of producing persistent PFAS compounds, the company’s management was brought to trial for contaminating water sources in an area home to 350,000 residents. In June, its former executives 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?

Nevertheless, all of the company’s equipment, its intellectual property and processes – all required components to produce forever chemicals – is now located at Lote Parshuram MIDC, a large industrial zone thousands of miles distant, sandwiched among local communities and wooded areas. And the plant has just started to resume PFAS production.

An Environmental Burden

Once known for its expertise in creating methods for specialty compounds, Miteni is now infamous for the toxic legacy it bequeathed. In 2011, scientists found exceptionally elevated levels of PFAS compounds in the plant’s wastewater. Hundreds of thousands of residents had been exposed through drinking water.

The most impacted were Miteni’s employees. Ilario Ermetti, 69, who worked for decades in its fluorinated chemical department, displayed among the top levels of Pfas documented 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 bloodstream are linked to increased risk of malignancies, cardiovascular diseases, organ impairment, reproductive disorders and additional ailments. Ermetti is presently recuperating from a recent medical procedure.

Public Apprehensions

Michela Piccoli, 51, a nurse and activist with Mamme No Pfas, began mobilizing after learning her offspring’s blood tests showed high levels of forever chemicals. When she found out that Miteni’s patents and machinery were being sent to India, she was shocked.

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

Corporate Transition

Following Miteni’s insolvency, its assets were acquired in 2019 by a pharmaceutical firm, a subsidiary of the domestic chemical corporation Laxmi Organic Industries – the sole participant in the open sale. By early 2023, the complete machinery was being shipped heading to Mumbai. At the same time, Laxmi was promoting its recent purchase to investors. Records of shareholders’ meetings indicate that Laxmi’s management downplayed ecological worries, with its president, Harshvardhan Goenka, declaring that Miteni was “operating lawfully according to European standards”.

Goenka is a member on the directorate of Laxmi Organic the Italian branch, a company founded in 2021. Also included is Antonio Nardone, the final CEO of Miteni, who was convicted of environmental pollution and financial misreporting at the recent court case and given 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 firm’s collapse.

Although Laxmi bought Miteni’s assets in June 2019, the environmental assessment report for the construction of the factory in Lote reveals that in March 2018 the firm was already intending to commence manufacturing fluorinated compounds compatible with Miteni’s product list. Laxmi Organic Industries declined to answer inquiries.

Growth Plans

By 2021, Laxmi’s plan explicitly spelled out the goal to “acquire the customer base of Miteni” and become a leader in the manufacturing of PFAS and fluorochemicals. Logistics data indicate that, to secure validation on the quality of the compounds, in 2024 Laxmi started sending out samples to firms with past business relationships 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, dyes, beauty products and additional goods.

Regulatory Context

Investigations have shown that levels of forever chemicals in the environment are worryingly elevated, particularly around manufacturing facilities. But although international attention is increasing, in India the issue is not yet a policy priority.

“If we look at the regulations, [Pfas] is absent in such guidelines. It’s unacknowledged by the Indian government currently,” said Rajneesh Gautam, an ecological scientist at the academic institution. “Independent research groups across India have performed research in different states. But this work are limited in scope, 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 poor ecological history”. After it was set up in 1986, “the livelihood of fishing populations in this region completely collapsed,” she said.

The industrial area is dependent on a centralised wastewater treatment plant that has been frequently criticized.

“The local villages have always stated that it’s malfunctioning,” said Dandekar. “When there is no electricity, a common occurrence in the countryside, the plant fails to operate and factories release contaminated effluent straight into the waterways.” Environmental authorities have sent multiple notices to the site in recent years.

Global Implications

In the EU, the regulatory agency is reviewing a proposal to ban the manufacture, importation and utilization of more than 10,000 forever chemicals. This attention may be driving the sector to the global south, per Claudia Marcolungo, a professor of environmental law at the academic institution. “I think that this matter should be examined, because the reality that Miteni’s operations, intellectual assets and equipment have been relocated to a nation like India should lead us to reflect, at the very least, on the power that these multinationals have to relocate in nations where there is clearly a lowering of standards in terms of ecological safeguards.”

Ongoing Risks

Miteni has closed down, but the company’s toxic legacy lives on – at the contaminated site in Vicenza, and in Lote. The medical effects associated with Pfas production are likely to affect communities that are facing an unsafe environment for generations.

“That region has seen enough environmental destruction by now,” says Dandekar. “If more dangerous companies establish presence, it’s perpetually concerning.”