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

This industrial unit is almost brand new, but its equipment is not: it comes 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 company’s management was brought to trial for polluting water resources in an area home to 350,000 residents. In June, previous company leaders were found guilty at the Vicenza court of environmental damage and other charges and sentenced to jail, with appeals anticipated.

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

And yet, the entire operational setup, its intellectual property and methods – all required components to manufacture forever chemicals – is now located at Lote Parshuram MIDC, a large industrial zone almost 4,000 miles away, sandwiched among local communities and wooded areas. And the factory has just started to produce forever chemicals again.

A Toxic Legacy

Previously recognized for its expertise in creating methods for advanced chemicals, Miteni is now notorious for the harmful aftermath it left behind. In 2011, researchers found extraordinarily high concentrations of PFAS compounds in the plant’s wastewater. Hundreds of thousands of residents had been exposed through potable water.

The most impacted were Miteni’s employees. Ilario Ermetti, 69, who worked for decades in its specialty chemicals division, showed among the top levels of PFAS documented in human blood. “After the facts emerged, I looked at a catalog of health issues related to Pfas, and discovered I had them all,” says Ermetti.

High levels of Pfas in the bloodstream are linked to higher chances of malignancies, cardiovascular diseases, liver and kidney damage, fertility issues and more. Ermetti is presently recuperating from a recent surgical operation.

Public Apprehensions

Michela Piccoli, 51, a nurse and campaigner with Mothers Against PFAS, began mobilizing 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 stunned.

“As mothers, as women, our anxiety has increased,” she said. “Because our children are the children of all.”

Business Shift

After Miteni went bankrupt, 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 travelling on freight ships heading to Mumbai. At the same time, Laxmi was promoting its new acquisition to shareholders. Records of investor gatherings indicate that Laxmi’s management downplayed ecological worries, with its president, Harshvardhan Goenka, declaring that Miteni was “operating lawfully according to EU regulations”.

Goenka is one of the three men on the board of Laxmi Organic Italy, a company established in 2021. Another is Antonio Nardone, the final CEO of Miteni, who was found guilty of environmental pollution and false accounting at the June trial and given six years and four months in jail. Per a ex-supervisor speaking on condition of anonymity, Nardone was taking business trips to India prior to the company went bankrupt.

While Laxmi purchased Miteni’s assets in June 2019, the environmental assessment report for the building of the factory in Lote reveals that in March 2018 the company was already planning to commence manufacturing fluorinated compounds matching Miteni’s offerings. Laxmi Organic Industries declined to answer 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 fluorochemicals. Shipping records indicate that, to secure validation on the quality of the chemicals, in 2024 Laxmi started sending out samples to firms with past business relationships with Miteni, such as BASF, Chemours, DuPont and FMC.

From the beginning of 2025, Laxmi’s site in Lote Parshuram has been completely active, producing chemicals that will be used in pesticides, pharmaceuticals, colorants, cosmetics and other products.

Environmental Oversight

Investigations demonstrate that concentrations of forever chemicals in the environment are worryingly elevated, particularly around manufacturing facilities. But although international attention is growing, in India the matter is not on the political agenda yet.

“If we look at the regulations, [Pfas] is not present in such guidelines. It’s unacknowledged by the national authorities as of today,” said Rajneesh Gautam, an environmental chemist at the academic institution. “Autonomous study teams across India have conducted studies in different states. But these studies are restricted in range, and there are still very few of them.”

Regional Consequences

Parineeta Dandekar, head 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 fisher folk communities in this area totally deteriorated,” she said.

The industrial area is served by a shared effluent treatment facility that has been frequently criticized.

“Nearby communities have always stated that it’s not working properly,” said Dandekar. “During power outages, a frequent event in the countryside, the plant fails to operate and industries release contaminated effluent directly into the waterways.” Environmental authorities have issued several warning letters to the plant in recent years.

Global Implications

In the EU, the regulatory agency is examining a proposal to ban the manufacture, import and utilization of over ten thousand forever chemicals. 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 issue should be investigated, because the reality that Miteni’s production, intellectual assets and equipment have been transferred to a nation like India should prompt consideration, minimally, on the power that these multinationals have to move in nations where there is clearly a race to the bottom in terms of ecological safeguards.”

Persistent Threats

Miteni has closed down, but the company’s toxic legacy continues – at the polluted location in Vicenza, and in Lote. The medical effects linked to Pfas production are expected to impact populations that are facing an hazardous setting for generations.

“The area has experienced sufficient ecological damage already,” says Dandekar. “Should additional hazardous firms establish presence, it’s always a risk.”