Ratnagiri plant with machinery from Italy firm operating within consented standards: Govt

“As per the information provided by the Central Pollution Control Board a company named M/s Laxmi Organic Industries Limited located at MIDC Lote Parshuram Industrial Area, Ratnagiri District of Maharashtra procured the manufacturing infrastructure from M/s Miteni spa, Italy, during 2021-22,” the reply stated.

Tiwari asked whether the publicly-listed chemical plant in Ratnagiri is using machinery and technology procured from an Italian firm Miteni which was shut down in 2018 following alleged PFAS (Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances) contamination scandal. PFAS or “forever chemicals” are synthetic chemicals that don’t break down in the environment.

Locals in Ratnagiri had raised questions and staged protests last month seeking to know more about environmental safeguards relating to the plant. Maharashtra Pollution Control Board officials, who were reportedly reviewing the company’s operations, could not be reached for a comment.

The ministry’s response stated that the company was accorded environmental clearance by the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority, and it was later transferred to its fully-owned subsidiary Yellowstone Fine Chemicals Pvt Ltd. Last year, the company also obtained a clearance for expanding production.

In the red herring prospectus — a prelude to IPO launch — filed with SEBI in March 2021, Laxmi Organic Industries Ltd had said they were in the process of setting up a proposed facility for manufacturing of fluorospecialty chemicals. These chemicals are used in pharmaceuticals, agrochemical, aerospace and automobile industries, as per the filing.

The company had said that as part of their growth strategy, it had proposed to establish a fluorospecialty chemicals business and to this end, acquired certain plant, equipment and patents of Miteni SPA, Italy (Miteni Assets), a manufacturer of organic fluorospecialties and electrochemical fluorination. It was acquired through an auction bid in June 2019 for an aggregate consideration of Euro 4.63 million, through wholly owned subsidiary, Viva Lifesciences Pvt Ltd. The company started a new facility at the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation’s Lote Parshuram industrial area on 80,000 sq m area.

Tiwari also sought to know if the government has regulations banning PFAS, to which the ministry said there was “no specific environmental regulation banning PFAS manufacturing.” However, two PFAS pesticides – Trifluralin and Oxyfluorfen – are under restricted use while 126 PFAS active substances are listed in the Schedules to Insecticides Act, 1968.