Vipin Vijayan asked: Should India have invested billions in Rafale? What's the future of Tejas? Will the Rafale really plug IAF's squadron gap?

Reply: Refer to the following earlier and current publications by IDSA faculty on the issue:

Rafale MMRCA Deal: Last Minute Glitches?
By Vivek Kapur, August 30, 2012, at
http://idsa.in/idsacomments/RafaleMMRCADealLastMinuteGlitches_vkapur_300812

Transformation of the Indian Air Force over the Next Decade (Issue Brief)
By Vivek Kapur, June 13, 2012, at http://idsa.in/system/files/IB_TransformationoftheIAF.pdf

Major Issues of Immediate Concern for the Indian Air Force
By Vivek Kapur, June 11, 2012, at
http://idsa.in/idsacomments/MajorIssuesofImmediateConcernfortheIndianAirForce_VivekKapur_110612

The Rafale: An Opportunity Towards Indigenous Aircraft Design And Manufacture
By Vivek Kapur, February 17, 2012, at
http://www.idsa.in/idsacomments/TheRafaleAnOpportunityTowardsIndigenousAircraftDesignAndManufacture_VivekKapur_160112

MMRCA: Counter Point,
By Ramesh Phadke, February 13, 2012, at
http://idsa.in/idsacomments/MMRCACounterPoint_rphadke_130212

The air force gets its ideal platform
By Ajey Lele, February 11, 2012, at
http://dailypioneer.com/columnists/item/51038-the-air-force-gets-its-ideal-platform.html

Rafale Wins the MMRCA Competition
By Ramesh Phadke, February 6, 2012, at
http://idsa.in/idsacomments/RafaleWinstheMMRCACompetition_rphadke_060212

Dogfight: India’s MMRCA Decision (Book review)
By Ramesh Phadke, February 7, 2011, at
http://idsa.in/bookreview/DogfightIndiasMMRCADecision_rphadke_070211

MMRCA: A difficult choice for the IAF
By Ramesh Phadke, May 19, 2010, at
http://idsa.in/idsacomments/MMRCAAdifficultchoicefortheIAF_rphadke_190510

Rafale: the doomed French bird
By Guillem Monsonis, May 14, 2009, at
http://idsa.in/idsastrategiccomments/RafalethedoomedFrenchbird_GMonsonis_140509