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The dense tropical forest and rust-red elevations of Lote, located on India’s west coast, lead to a small hill where a factory looms under the open 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 following among the most severe environmental scandals in the country’s recent history: after decades of producing persistent PFAS compounds, the firm’s leadership was brought to trial for polluting water resources in an area home to 350,000 people. In June, previous company leaders were convicted at the local tribunal of causing environmental pollution and additional offenses and given prison sentences, which they are expected to appeal against.

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 – everything needed to manufacture Pfas – is now here in Lote Parshuram MIDC, a vast industrial enclave almost 4,000 miles away, sandwiched among local communities and wooded areas. And the plant has just started to resume PFAS production.

A Toxic Legacy

Once known for its expertise in creating methods for specialty compounds, Miteni is now notorious for the harmful aftermath it bequeathed. In 2011, researchers found extraordinarily high levels of PFAS compounds in the plant’s wastewater. Numerous of residents had been exposed through drinking water.

The worst-affected were Miteni’s employees. Ilario Ermetti, 69, who worked for decades in its specialty chemicals division, showed one of the highest concentrations of PFAS documented in human blood. “After the facts emerged, I reviewed a catalog of health issues associated with Pfas, and discovered I had them all,” says Ermetti.

Elevated concentrations of Pfas in the bloodstream are linked to increased risk of malignancies, heart conditions, organ impairment, reproductive disorders and additional ailments. Ermetti is presently recuperating from a recent surgical operation.

Public Apprehensions

Michela Piccoli, 51, a nurse and activist with Mothers Against PFAS, started organizing after learning her children’s blood indicated elevated amounts of forever chemicals. When she found out that Miteni’s patents and machinery were being sent to India, she was shocked.

“Being parents, as females, our anxiety has increased,” she said. “Because our children are everyone’s children.”

Corporate Transition

Following Miteni’s insolvency, its assets were bought in 2019 by Viva Lifesciences, a subsidiary of the Indian chemical company Laxmi Organic Industries – the only bidder in the public auction. By early 2023, all the equipment was being shipped heading to Mumbai. At the same time, Laxmi was promoting its recent purchase to investors. Transcripts of investor gatherings show that Laxmi’s management minimized environmental concerns, with its president, Harshvardhan Goenka, declaring that Miteni was “operating lawfully according to EU regulations”.

Goenka is one of the three men on the directorate of Laxmi Organic the Italian branch, a company founded in 2021. Also included is Antonio Nardone, the last chief executive of Miteni, who was convicted of ecological offenses and false accounting at the June trial and sentenced to six years and four months in jail. According to a ex-supervisor requesting confidentiality, Nardone was traveling for work to India prior to the company went bankrupt.

While Laxmi bought Miteni’s assets in June 2019, the ecological review for the building of the plant in Lote shows that in March 2018 the firm was already planning to commence manufacturing fluorochemicals matching Miteni’s product list. Laxmi Organic Industries declined to answer inquiries.

Growth Plans

By 2021, Laxmi’s plan clearly outlined the goal to “capture [the] market share of Miteni” and become a leader in the manufacturing of PFAS and specialty chemicals. Shipping records indicate that, to get approval on the standard of the chemicals, in 2024 Laxmi began distributing samples to firms with previous commercial ties with Miteni, such as BASF, Chemours, DuPont and FMC.

From the beginning of 2025, Laxmi’s location in Lote Parshuram has been completely active, producing chemicals that will be utilized for pesticides, medicines, colorants, cosmetics and additional goods.

Environmental Oversight

Studies have shown that levels of forever chemicals in the ecosystem are worryingly elevated, particularly around 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 absent in such guidelines. It’s not recognised by the Indian government currently,” said Rajneesh Gautam, an environmental chemist at the academic institution. “Independent research groups across India have conducted studies in different states. But these studies are limited in scope, and there are still very few of them.”

Local Impact

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 set up in 1986, “the livelihood of fisher folk communities in this area totally deteriorated,” she said.

The chemical district is dependent on a shared effluent treatment facility that has been frequently criticized.

“The local villages have always stated that it’s malfunctioning,” said Dandekar. “During power outages, a frequent event in the countryside, the plant cannot function and factories discharge contaminated effluent straight into the streams.” Environmental authorities have issued multiple notices to the plant in recent years.

Global Implications

In the EU, the regulatory agency is examining a plan to prohibit the manufacture, importation and use of over ten thousand persistent compounds. This scrutiny may be driving the industry to the developing nations, according to Claudia Marcolungo, a professor of environmental law at the academic institution. “I believe that this issue should be examined, because the fact that Miteni’s operations, patents and equipment have been relocated to a country like India should lead us to reflect, minimally, on the influence that these multinationals have to move in nations where there is evidently a lowering of standards 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 associated with Pfas production are likely to affect communities that are already struggling with an hazardous setting for years to come.

“That region has seen enough environmental destruction by now,” says Dandekar. “Should additional hazardous firms establish presence, it’s perpetually concerning.”