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The lush tropical forest and reddish-brown elevations of Lote, located on India’s western shoreline, give way to a modest rise where a factory looms under the open sky.

The factory is largely newly built, but its machinery is far from new: it comes from the former Miteni factory in Vicenza, Italy. Miteni ceased operations in 2018 following among the most severe environmental scandals in the nation’s modern record: after years of manufacturing Pfas forever chemicals, the company’s management was prosecuted for contaminating water resources in an region inhabited by 350,000 people. In June, previous company leaders were found guilty at the Vicenza court of causing environmental pollution and additional offenses and sentenced to jail, which they are expected to appeal against.

Understanding PFAS: Toxicity Levels and Exposure Routes

And yet, the entire operational setup, its patents and methods – everything needed to manufacture forever chemicals – is now here in Lote Parshuram MIDC, a large industrial zone thousands of miles distant, sandwiched among villages and wooded areas. And the plant has recently begun to produce forever chemicals again.

An Environmental Burden

Once known for its expertise in creating methods for advanced chemicals, Miteni is now notorious for the toxic legacy it left behind. In 2011, researchers found extraordinarily high concentrations of PFAS compounds in the facility’s effluent. Numerous of inhabitants had been subjected through drinking water.

The worst-affected 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 documented in human blood. “After the facts emerged, 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 increased risk of malignancies, cardiovascular diseases, organ impairment, fertility issues and more. Ermetti is presently recuperating from a recent surgical operation.

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

“As mothers, as women, 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 branch of the domestic chemical corporation Laxmi Organic Industries – the only bidder in the public auction. By early 2023, the complete machinery was travelling on freight ships heading to Mumbai. Meanwhile, Laxmi was promoting its new acquisition to shareholders. Transcripts of shareholders’ meetings show that Laxmi’s executives downplayed environmental concerns, with its chairman, Harshvardhan Goenka, stating that Miteni was “doing everything legally according to EU regulations”.

Goenka is a member on the board of Laxmi Organic Italy, a entity established in 2021. Also included is Antonio Nardone, the last chief executive of Miteni, who was convicted of ecological offenses and false accounting at the recent court case and sentenced to six years and four months in prison. Per a ex-supervisor speaking on condition of anonymity, Nardone was taking business trips to India months before the firm’s collapse.

Although Laxmi bought Miteni’s assets in June 2019, the ecological review for the building of the factory in Lote reveals that in March 2018 the company was already intending to commence manufacturing fluorinated compounds matching Miteni’s offerings. Laxmi Organic Industries did not respond to requests for comment.

Growth Plans

By 2021, Laxmi’s strategy clearly outlined the objective to “capture [the] market share of Miteni” and emerge as a top player in the production of PFAS and specialty chemicals. Logistics data show that, to secure validation on the quality of the chemicals, in 2024 Laxmi started sending out test batches to firms with previous commercial ties with Miteni, including BASF, Chemours, DuPont and FMC.

Since early 2025, Laxmi’s site in Lote Parshuram has been fully operational, manufacturing substances that will be used in pesticides, medicines, dyes, beauty products and additional goods.

Environmental Oversight

Studies have shown that levels of forever chemicals in the ecosystem are worryingly elevated, especially near production sites. But although international attention is growing, in India the issue is not on the political agenda yet.

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

Regional Consequences

Parineeta Dandekar, head of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers, and People, says the Lote Parshuram manufacturing zone “has a dismal environmental track record”. After it was established in 1986, “the livelihood of fishing populations in this area totally deteriorated,” she said.

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

“The local villages have consistently reported that it’s malfunctioning,” said Dandekar. “During power outages, a frequent event in the countryside, the facility cannot function and industries release polluted water directly 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 ban the manufacture, import and use of over ten thousand persistent compounds. This scrutiny may be driving the industry to the developing nations, per Claudia Marcolungo, a professor of environmental law at the academic institution. “I think that this issue should be examined, because the reality that Miteni’s production, patents and machinery have been relocated to a country like India should lead us to reflect, at the very least, on the power that these global corporations have to move in countries where there is clearly a race to the bottom in terms of environmental protection.”

Ongoing Risks

Miteni has closed down, but the company’s toxic legacy lives on – at the polluted location in Vicenza, and in Lote. The medical effects linked to PFAS manufacturing are expected to impact populations that are already struggling with an unsafe environment for generations.

“That region has seen enough environmental destruction already,” says Dandekar. “If more dangerous companies move in, it’s perpetually concerning.”