Chinese smartphone vendors faced increased costs in India as factory closures caused by Covid-19 (coronavirus) resulted in an increase in imports into the country, Reuters reported.

Sources told the news agency, Xiaomi and BBK Electronics subsidiaries: Oppo; OnePlus; and Realme were paying massive tariffs on imports, levied as part of the government’s Make in India initiative.

The Chinese brands have factories in India and operations were cleared to resume in May, but safety concerns resulted in ongoing staff shortages.

Reuters reported the import strategy is a short-term solution to meeting pent up demand for devices while factories get back up to full capacity.

Make in India is a move by the government to boost domestic production: last week it expanded on the scheme with an INR500 billion ($6.6 billion) phone and component manufacturing incentive programme.

Despite factory closures in China and India, Xiaomi reported double-digit growth in smartphone revenue in Q1.