Top-performing Indian funds make winning bets on chemical firms stocks

India is emerging as a hub for specialty chemicals, helped by favorable policy measures.

India’s best-performing stock funds have one thing in common: they’ve bet on companies that make the chemical substances used in items ranging from lip balms to crop-boosting fertilizers.

Chemicals producers make up at least 14% of the portfolio for three funds that have delivered the biggest returns this year among those with at least $500 million in total assets, according to Bloomberg-compiled data. Those bets have paid off thanks to rising global appetite for specialty chemicals in industries such as automobiles and cosmetics amid a recovery from the pandemic.

India is emerging as a hub for specialty chemicals, helped by