Not really.
EF2000, SH18, F21, Gripen E, Mig35, Su35, Su57 etc.... are and remain on the market.
IAF and Indian top brass had and has the choice.
The price include local assembly (it has a price), support and probably a deep weapon package.
Not really, they had already bought the Rafael, they cornered themselves, picking another platform would mean they had to restart all over again
The Tejas fleet is currently grounded because of the third crash in the last 23 months, it's unreliable and the more they push it the more it will crash
I'm not sure if they've worked out the problems with the Tejas 2 but considering it's still HAL I doubt it
France knows all of this
They've had the same discussions for at least the best part of the last two decades, France ALWAYS asked for a high price
The Indians originally wanted 114 planes, but with TOT and some manufacturing inside India
France refused and in the end the bought 36 directly from France, assuming Tejas would work out, Su57 would work out, AMCA would work out etc
None of that happened and now they are completely cornered
If India does nothing, then AMCA will take 20 years
They don't have a engine
Tejas has been nothing short of a SAGA
So India is spending billions on a 4th gen plane when others are moving to 5th gen
And unless they drop their ego's and learn why Indian airforce was so humiliated last year by PAF, none of this will matter