Where Does a Western Chemical Plant That Contaminated Drinking Water Move On? To India

The lush green jungle and rust-red hills of Lote, located on India’s west coast, lead to a small hill where a factory looms under the open sky.

The factory is largely newly built, but its equipment is not: it comes from the defunct Miteni factory in Vicenza, Italy. Miteni ceased operations in 2018 after one of the worst ecological controversies in the nation’s modern record: after years of manufacturing persistent PFAS compounds, the firm’s leadership was prosecuted for polluting water resources in an area inhabited by 350,000 residents. In June, its former executives were convicted at the Vicenza court of environmental damage and additional offenses and given prison sentences, with appeals anticipated.

Understanding PFAS: Toxicity Levels and Exposure Routes

Nevertheless, the entire operational setup, its intellectual property and processes – all required components to manufacture forever chemicals – is now located at Lote Parshuram MIDC, a vast industrial enclave thousands of miles distant, sandwiched among local communities and wooded areas. And the factory has recently begun to resume PFAS production.

A Toxic Legacy

Once known for its expertise in creating methods for specialty compounds, Miteni is now infamous for the toxic legacy it left behind. In 2011, scientists found exceptionally elevated levels of PFAS compounds in the plant’s wastewater. Hundreds of thousands of residents had been subjected through potable water.

The most impacted were Miteni’s employees. Ilario Ermetti, 69, who was employed for years in its specialty chemicals division, showed among the top levels of Pfas ever recorded in blood samples. “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 bloodstream are associated with increased risk of cancer, heart conditions, liver and kidney damage, fertility issues and more. Ermetti is currently recovering from a recent surgical operation.

Community Concerns

Michela Piccoli, 51, a healthcare worker and activist with Mamme No Pfas, started organizing after discovering her children’s blood showed high levels of persistent pollutants. When she learned 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. “Because our children are everyone’s children.”

Business Shift

After Miteni went bankrupt, its holdings were bought in 2019 by Viva Lifesciences, a branch of the domestic chemical corporation Laxmi Organic Industries – the sole participant in the public auction. By the start of 2023, all the equipment was travelling on freight ships en route to Mumbai. Meanwhile, Laxmi was promoting its recent purchase to investors. Transcripts of investor gatherings indicate that Laxmi’s executives minimized environmental concerns, with its president, Harshvardhan Goenka, declaring that Miteni was “operating lawfully according to European standards”.

Goenka is one of the three men on the directorate of Laxmi Organic Italy, a company 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 sentenced to six years and four months in jail. Per a former mid-level manager speaking on condition of anonymity, Nardone was traveling for work to India prior to the firm’s collapse.

Although Laxmi purchased Miteni’s assets in June 2019, the environmental assessment report for the construction of the plant in Lote reveals that in March 2018 the firm was already intending to start producing fluorinated compounds compatible with Miteni’s product list. Laxmi Organic Industries did not respond to requests for comment.

Growth Plans

By 2021, Laxmi’s plan clearly outlined the goal to “acquire the customer base of Miteni” and emerge as a top player in the production of PFAS and fluorochemicals. Shipping records indicate that, to secure validation on the quality of the compounds, in 2024 Laxmi began distributing samples to companies with past business relationships with Miteni, including 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, medicines, dyes, cosmetics and other products.

Environmental Oversight

Studies have shown that levels of persistent pollutants in the ecosystem are alarmingly high, especially near production sites. But although global focus is increasing, in India the matter is not on the political agenda yet.

“If we look at the regulations, [Pfas] is not present in those standards. 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 different states. But these studies are restricted in range, and there are still only a handful.”

Local Impact

Parineeta Dandekar, coordinator of the regional environmental group, says the Lote Parshuram industrial district “has a dismal environmental track record”. After it was set up in 1986, “the livelihood of fishing populations in this area totally deteriorated,” she said.

The industrial area 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 rural Maharashtra state, the facility fails to operate and industries discharge polluted water straight into the waterways.” Regulatory bodies have sent multiple notices to the plant in recent years.

International Ramifications

In the EU, the European Chemical Agency is examining a proposal to prohibit the manufacture, importation and utilization of more than 10,000 forever chemicals. This attention may be driving the industry to the developing nations, according to Claudia Marcolungo, a legal scholar at the academic institution. “I believe that this issue should be investigated, because the fact that Miteni’s operations, intellectual assets and machinery have been relocated to a nation like India should lead us to reflect, minimally, on the influence 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 shut down, but the company’s toxic legacy continues – at the polluted location in Vicenza, and in Lote. The medical effects linked to PFAS manufacturing are expected to impact populations that are facing an hazardous setting for years to come.

“The area has experienced sufficient environmental destruction already,” says Dandekar. “Should additional hazardous firms establish presence, it’s perpetually concerning.”