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The dense tropical forest and rust-red hills of Lote, situated along India’s western shoreline, lead to a small hill where a industrial facility stands against the sky.

This industrial unit is almost brand new, but its machinery is not: it comes from the former Miteni plant in Vicenza, Italy. Miteni closed down in 2018 following among the most severe ecological controversies in the country’s recent history: after decades of producing persistent PFAS compounds, the firm’s leadership was prosecuted for polluting water sources in an region inhabited by 350,000 residents. In June, previous company leaders were found guilty at the local tribunal of environmental damage 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 intellectual property and processes – all required components to manufacture Pfas – 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 recently begun to produce forever chemicals again.

An Environmental Burden

Once known for its specialism in creating methods for specialty compounds, Miteni is now infamous for the harmful aftermath it left behind. In 2011, researchers found extraordinarily high levels of PFAS compounds in the facility’s effluent. Hundreds of thousands of inhabitants had been exposed through drinking water.

The worst-affected were Miteni’s employees. Ilario Ermetti, 69, who was employed for years in its fluorinated chemical department, showed among the top levels of PFAS documented in human blood. “When the story came to light, I looked at 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, 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 healthcare worker and campaigner with Mothers Against PFAS, began mobilizing after discovering her children’s blood showed elevated amounts of persistent pollutants. When she found out that Miteni’s patents and machinery were being sent to India, she was stunned.

“As mothers, as females, our anxiety has increased,” she said. “Since our kids are everyone’s children.”

Corporate Transition

Following Miteni’s insolvency, its holdings were acquired in 2019 by Viva Lifesciences, a subsidiary of the domestic chemical corporation Laxmi Organic Industries – the sole participant in the open sale. By early 2023, the complete machinery was travelling on freight ships heading to Mumbai. Meanwhile, Laxmi was promoting its recent purchase to investors. Records of shareholders’ meetings indicate that Laxmi’s management downplayed environmental concerns, with its president, Harshvardhan Goenka, stating that Miteni was “operating lawfully according to European standards”.

Goenka is a member on the board of Laxmi Organic Italy, a entity established in 2021. Another is Antonio Nardone, the last chief executive of Miteni, who was convicted of environmental pollution and financial misreporting at the June trial and sentenced to six years and four months in jail. According to a former mid-level manager speaking on condition of anonymity, Nardone was taking business trips to India months before the firm’s collapse.

Although Laxmi purchased Miteni’s properties in June 2019, the environmental assessment report for the construction of the plant in Lote reveals that in March 2018 the firm was already planning to commence manufacturing fluorochemicals compatible with Miteni’s product list. Laxmi Organic Industries did not respond to requests for comment.

Strategic Expansion

By 2021, Laxmi’s plan explicitly spelled out the objective to “capture [the] market share of Miteni” and become a leader in the manufacturing of Pfas and specialty chemicals. Logistics data show that, to secure validation on the quality of the compounds, in 2024 Laxmi began distributing samples to firms with previous commercial ties 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 utilized for agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, colorants, beauty products and additional goods.

Environmental Oversight

Investigations have shown that concentrations of persistent pollutants in the ecosystem are worryingly elevated, especially near production sites. But even though global focus is growing, in India the matter is not on the political agenda yet.

“Examining the rules, [Pfas] is not present in such guidelines. It’s unacknowledged by the Indian government currently,” said Rajneesh Gautam, an environmental chemist at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. “Autonomous study teams across India have performed research in various regions. But these studies are restricted in range, and there are still only a handful.”

Local Impact

Parineeta Dandekar, coordinator of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers, and People, says the Lote Parshuram manufacturing zone “has a poor ecological history”. After it was established in 1986, “the income source of fishing populations in this region completely collapsed,” she said.

The industrial area is dependent on 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 common occurrence in the countryside, the facility fails to operate and factories release contaminated effluent straight into the waterways.” Environmental authorities have sent several warning letters to the site in the past few years.

International Ramifications

In the EU, the European Chemical Agency is examining a proposal to prohibit the production, import and use of over ten thousand forever chemicals. This scrutiny may be driving the sector to the developing nations, according to Claudia Marcolungo, a professor of environmental law at the University of Padua. “I believe that this matter should be investigated, because the fact that Miteni’s production, patents and equipment have been transferred to a nation like India should lead us to reflect, minimally, on the influence that these multinationals have to move in countries where there is evidently a lowering of standards in terms of environmental protection.”

Persistent Threats

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 manufacturing are likely to affect populations that are already struggling with 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.”