Is Gripen out of the Indian MMRCA competition?

Has the Indian Air Force (IAF) competition to buy 126 fighter aircraft had its first casualty? According to reports in an Indian newspaper, Financial Express, the Swedish fighter, which has had a string of international successes, including a recent one to supply fighters to the Thailand air force, has failed the technical evaluation of the IAF. It is now up to the Indian MoD which is conducting the procurement process, to decide whether it wants to call the Swedish fighter for field trials within the next few months. Amongst the six contenders- Boeing's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, Dassault's Rafale, Eurofighter's Typhoon, Lockheed Martin's F-16, Russian Aircraft Corporation's (RAC's) MiG-35 and the Saab JAS 39 Gripen, the Gripen was considered to have the best chance as it most fitted the description of a light and agile fighter, the key reason why the IAF wanted a new generation fighter to replace the MiG-21 aircraft. However, with news that the Gripen has failed at the first round (if the media reports are true), then the field is now left with five contenders. Informed sources told Defenseworld.net that another contender, Eurofighter too was a borderline case in the technical evaluation phase and might not meet the grade. This would leave the field to Boeing's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, Dassault's Rafale, Lockheed Martin's F-16, and RAC's MiG-35. The reasons why the JAS 39 Gripen failed the test, according to sources, was due to the fact that it was the lightest of the contenders and not really what the IAF wants. The Gripen matches closely to India’s own Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) also called Tejus, which the IAF is committed to buy and induct over the next few years. The IAF does not want its medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) to be similar in performance and features to the LCA Tejus. India is planning to spend $10 billion on its MMRCA purchase. The deal is considered one of the biggest for fighter aircraft anywhere in the world and has attracted worldwide interest and attention. Contrary to earlier defense procurements, the IAF and MoD has put in place a very scientific evaluation process and sources among the bidders said this is up there with countries with the most transparent procurement process. In this context, it would be difficult to see how if the Gripen has failed the technical evaluation, it would be possible for it to come back into the reckoning and be invited for field trials. However, officially there is no word on the progress of the evaluation with the IAF’s stated position that the bids have been received and that the technical evaluation of the bids is on.