To Which Location Does a European Chemical Plant Which Polluted Water Supplies Go Next? To India

The dense tropical forest and rust-red hills of Lote, located on India’s west coast, give way to a modest rise where a industrial facility stands against the sky.

The factory is almost brand new, but its machinery is not: it originates from the defunct Miteni plant in Vicenza, Italy. Miteni ceased operations in 2018 following among the most severe environmental scandals in the nation’s modern record: after decades of producing persistent PFAS compounds, the firm’s leadership was brought to trial for polluting water resources in an area inhabited by 350,000 people. In June, its former executives were convicted at the Vicenza court of environmental damage and other charges and given prison sentences, which they are expected to appeal against.

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Nevertheless, the entire operational setup, its intellectual property and processes – everything needed to manufacture Pfas – is now here in Lote Parshuram MIDC, a vast industrial enclave almost 4,000 miles away, wedged between local communities and groves of trees. And the factory has just started to resume PFAS production.

A Toxic Legacy

Previously recognized for its specialism in creating methods for advanced chemicals, Miteni is now infamous for the toxic legacy it bequeathed. In 2011, scientists found exceptionally elevated levels of PFAS compounds in the plant’s wastewater. Numerous of residents had been subjected through drinking water.

The most impacted were Miteni’s own workers. Ilario Ermetti, 69, who was employed for years in its specialty chemicals division, showed one of the highest concentrations of Pfas ever recorded in human blood. “When the story came to light, 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 associated with higher chances of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, organ impairment, fertility issues and additional ailments. Ermetti is presently recuperating from a recent medical procedure.

Public Apprehensions

Michela Piccoli, 51, a healthcare worker and activist with Mothers Against PFAS, started organizing after discovering her offspring’s blood tests showed elevated amounts of forever chemicals. When she found out that Miteni’s patents and equipment were being sent to India, she was shocked.

“Being parents, as women, our concern has grown,” she said. “Because our children are the children of all.”

Business Shift

After Miteni went bankrupt, its holdings were bought in 2019 by a pharmaceutical firm, a branch of the Indian chemical company Laxmi Organic Industries – the only bidder in the open sale. By early 2023, all the equipment was being shipped heading to Mumbai. At the same time, Laxmi was promoting its new acquisition to investors. Transcripts of shareholders’ meetings show that Laxmi’s management minimized environmental concerns, with its president, Harshvardhan Goenka, declaring that Miteni was “doing everything legally in compliance with EU regulations”.

Goenka is one of the three men on the board of Laxmi Organic the Italian branch, a company established in 2021. Another is Antonio Nardone, the final CEO of Miteni, who was convicted of ecological offenses and financial misreporting at the June trial and given six years and four months in prison. Per a former mid-level manager requesting confidentiality, Nardone was taking business trips to India months before the company went bankrupt.

While Laxmi bought Miteni’s assets in June 2019, the ecological review for the construction of the plant in Lote reveals that in March 2018 the firm was already intending to commence manufacturing fluorochemicals compatible with Miteni’s product list. Laxmi Organic Industries declined to answer requests for comment.

Strategic Expansion

By 2021, Laxmi’s plan explicitly spelled out the goal to “acquire the customer base of Miteni” and become a leader in the production of Pfas and fluorochemicals. Logistics data show that, to secure validation on the quality of the chemicals, in 2024 Laxmi began distributing test batches to firms with previous commercial ties with Miteni, including BASF, Chemours, DuPont and FMC.

Since early 2025, Laxmi’s site in Lote Parshuram has been completely active, manufacturing substances that will be utilized for agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, colorants, cosmetics and other products.

Environmental Oversight

Investigations demonstrate that concentrations of forever chemicals in the environment are alarmingly high, particularly around manufacturing facilities. But although global focus is growing, in India the issue is not on the political agenda yet.

“Examining the rules, [Pfas] is not present in those standards. It’s not recognised by the Indian government currently,” said Rajneesh Gautam, an environmental chemist at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. “Autonomous study teams across India have performed research in various regions. 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 industrial district “has a dismal environmental track record”. After it was established in 1986, “the income source of fisher folk communities in this region completely collapsed,” she said.

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

“Nearby communities have consistently reported that it’s malfunctioning,” said Dandekar. “When there is no electricity, a frequent event in rural Maharashtra state, the facility cannot function and industries release polluted water straight into the waterways.” Environmental authorities have sent multiple notices to the plant in recent years.

International Ramifications

In the EU, the regulatory agency is examining a plan to prohibit the production, importation and use of more than 10,000 forever chemicals. This scrutiny may be pushing the industry to the global south, according to Claudia Marcolungo, a professor of environmental law at the University of Padua. “I think that this matter should be examined, because the reality that Miteni’s operations, intellectual assets and equipment have been transferred to a nation like India should lead us to reflect, at the very least, on the power that these multinationals have to relocate in countries where there is clearly a race to the bottom in terms of ecological safeguards.”

Persistent Threats

Miteni has shut down, but the firm’s harmful impact lives on – at the polluted location in Vicenza, and in Lote. The medical effects associated with Pfas production are expected to impact populations that are already struggling with an unsafe environment for years to come.

“The area has experienced sufficient environmental destruction by now,” says Dandekar. “If more dangerous companies move in, it’s perpetually concerning.”