To Which Location Will a Western Chemical Plant That Contaminated Water Supplies Go Next? Heading to India

The lush tropical forest and rust-red elevations of Lote, located on India’s west coast, give way to a small hill where a industrial facility stands under the open sky.

This industrial unit is almost brand new, but its machinery is far from new: it comes from the defunct Miteni factory in Vicenza, Italy. Miteni closed down in 2018 after among the most severe ecological controversies in the country’s recent history: after decades of producing Pfas forever chemicals, the company’s management was prosecuted for polluting water resources in an region home to 350,000 residents. In June, its former executives were found guilty at the local tribunal of environmental damage and additional offenses and sentenced to jail, with appeals anticipated.

Understanding PFAS: Toxicity Levels and Exposure Routes

And yet, the entire operational setup, its patents and processes – all required components to manufacture forever chemicals – is now here in Lote Parshuram MIDC, a large industrial zone thousands of miles distant, wedged between local communities and wooded areas. And the factory has recently begun to produce forever chemicals again.

A Toxic Legacy

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

The most impacted were Miteni’s employees. Ilario Ermetti, 69, who was employed for years in its specialty chemicals division, displayed one of the highest concentrations of PFAS ever recorded in blood samples. “When the story came to light, I looked at a list of medical conditions related to PFAS, and discovered I had them all,” says Ermetti.

Elevated concentrations of Pfas in the bloodstream are associated with higher chances of malignancies, cardiovascular diseases, organ impairment, reproductive disorders 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 learning her children’s blood showed high levels of persistent pollutants. When she found out that Miteni’s proprietary information and machinery were being transferred to India, she was stunned.

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

Corporate Transition

After Miteni went bankrupt, its holdings were acquired in 2019 by a pharmaceutical firm, a subsidiary of the Indian chemical company Laxmi Organic Industries – the only bidder in the public auction. By the start of 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 minimized environmental concerns, with its president, Harshvardhan Goenka, declaring that Miteni was “doing everything legally in compliance with European standards”.

Goenka is a member on the board of Laxmi Organic the Italian branch, a entity established in 2021. Also included is Antonio Nardone, the last chief executive of Miteni, who was convicted of environmental pollution and false accounting at the recent court case and given six years and four months in jail. According to a former mid-level manager requesting confidentiality, Nardone was traveling for work to India prior to the company went bankrupt.

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

Strategic Expansion

By 2021, Laxmi’s plan clearly outlined the goal to “acquire the customer base of Miteni” and emerge as a top player in the manufacturing of PFAS and fluorochemicals. Shipping records indicate that, to get approval on the standard of the compounds, in 2024 Laxmi started sending out test batches to companies with past business relationships with Miteni, such as BASF, Chemours, DuPont and FMC.

Since early 2025, Laxmi’s location in Lote Parshuram has been fully operational, producing chemicals that will be utilized for agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, colorants, beauty products and additional goods.

Environmental Oversight

Studies have shown that concentrations of forever chemicals in the environment are alarmingly high, especially near production sites. But even though global focus is increasing, in India the matter is not yet a policy priority.

“Examining the rules, [Pfas] is not present in those standards. It’s unacknowledged by the national authorities currently,” said Rajneesh Gautam, an environmental chemist at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. “Independent research groups across India have performed research in different states. But these studies are limited in scope, and there are still very few of them.”

Local Impact

Parineeta Dandekar, coordinator of the regional environmental group, 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 totally deteriorated,” she said.

The chemical district is dependent on a centralised wastewater treatment plant that has been frequently criticized.

“The local villages have consistently reported that it’s not working properly,” said Dandekar. “When there is no electricity, a frequent event in the countryside, the plant fails to operate and factories release polluted water straight into the streams.” Environmental authorities have sent multiple notices to the plant in recent years.

Global Implications

In the EU, the regulatory agency is examining a proposal to ban the production, importation and utilization 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 academic institution. “I think that this matter should be investigated, because the fact that Miteni’s operations, patents and machinery have been transferred to a nation like India should lead us to reflect, minimally, on the influence that these multinationals have to relocate in nations where there is clearly a race to the bottom in terms of environmental protection.”

Persistent Threats

Miteni has closed down, but the firm’s harmful impact continues – at the polluted location in Vicenza, and in Lote. The medical effects linked to Pfas production are expected to impact communities that are facing an unsafe environment for generations.

“The area has seen enough environmental destruction already,” says Dandekar. “If more dangerous companies establish presence, it’s perpetually concerning.”