🔗 Share this article

The lush green jungle and rust-red elevations of Lote, situated along India’s west coast, give way to a modest rise where a industrial facility stands under the open sky.

The factory is largely newly built, but its equipment is far from new: it originates from the former Miteni factory in Vicenza, Italy. Miteni ceased operations in 2018 following among the most severe ecological controversies in the country’s recent history: after years of manufacturing Pfas forever chemicals, the company’s management was brought to trial for contaminating water sources in an region home to 350,000 people. In June, its former executives were found guilty at the local tribunal of causing environmental pollution and additional offenses and given prison sentences, with appeals anticipated.

Understanding PFAS: Toxicity Levels and Exposure Routes

Nevertheless, the entire operational setup, its patents and methods – all required components to produce forever chemicals – is now located at Lote Parshuram MIDC, a vast industrial enclave thousands of miles distant, sandwiched among villages and wooded areas. And the plant has recently begun to resume PFAS production.

An Environmental Burden

Previously recognized for its expertise in developing processes for specialty compounds, Miteni is now notorious for the toxic legacy it left behind. In 2011, researchers found extraordinarily high levels of PFAS compounds in the facility’s effluent. Hundreds of thousands of residents had been exposed through drinking water.

The most impacted were Miteni’s own workers. Ilario Ermetti, 69, who worked for decades in its fluorinated chemical department, displayed among the top levels of Pfas ever recorded in blood samples. “After the facts emerged, I reviewed a catalog of health issues related to PFAS, and found out I had them all,” states Ermetti.

High levels of PFAS in the blood are linked to increased risk of malignancies, heart conditions, organ impairment, fertility issues and additional ailments. Ermetti is presently recuperating from a recent surgical operation.

Public Apprehensions

Michela Piccoli, 51, a nurse and campaigner with Mamme No Pfas, started organizing after learning her offspring’s blood tests indicated elevated amounts of forever chemicals. When she learned 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 the children of all.”

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 only bidder in the public auction. By early 2023, the complete machinery was being shipped heading to Mumbai. Meanwhile, Laxmi was promoting its new acquisition to investors. Transcripts of investor gatherings indicate that Laxmi’s executives downplayed environmental concerns, with its chairman, Harshvardhan Goenka, stating that Miteni was “operating lawfully in compliance with European standards”.

Goenka is a member on the board of Laxmi Organic the Italian branch, a company established in 2021. Another is Antonio Nardone, the last chief executive of Miteni, who was convicted of ecological offenses and financial misreporting at the recent court case and sentenced to six years and four months in jail. According to a former mid-level manager requesting confidentiality, Nardone was taking business trips to India months before the firm’s collapse.

While Laxmi purchased Miteni’s assets in June 2019, the ecological review for the building of the plant in Lote shows that in March 2018 the company was already intending to commence manufacturing fluorinated compounds compatible with Miteni’s offerings. Laxmi Organic Industries declined to answer inquiries.

Strategic Expansion

By 2021, Laxmi’s strategy explicitly spelled out the objective to “acquire the customer base of Miteni” and emerge as a top player in the manufacturing of Pfas and fluorochemicals. Shipping records show that, to get approval on the standard of the chemicals, in 2024 Laxmi started sending out test batches to firms with previous commercial ties with Miteni, such as 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 pesticides, medicines, colorants, beauty products and other products.

Regulatory Context

Investigations demonstrate that levels of forever chemicals in the environment are alarmingly high, particularly around manufacturing facilities. But even though 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 unacknowledged by the national authorities as of today,” said Rajneesh Gautam, an ecological scientist 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.”

Regional Consequences

Parineeta Dandekar, coordinator of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers, and People, 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 served by a centralised wastewater treatment plant that has been frequently criticized.

“Nearby communities have always stated that it’s not working properly,” said Dandekar. “When there is no electricity, a common occurrence in the countryside, the facility cannot function and industries release polluted water straight into the waterways.” Regulatory bodies have issued multiple notices to the site in recent years.

Global Implications

In the EU, the European Chemical Agency is examining a proposal to ban the manufacture, import and use 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 think that this issue should be investigated, because the reality that Miteni’s operations, patents and equipment have been transferred to a nation like India should lead us to reflect, at the very least, on the power that these global corporations have to move in nations 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 continues – at the contaminated site in Vicenza, and in Lote. The health impacts linked to PFAS manufacturing are expected to impact populations that are already struggling with an unsafe environment for years to come.

“The area has experienced sufficient ecological damage already,” says Dandekar. “If more dangerous companies establish presence, it’s always a risk.”