After the announcement of Dassault Rafale as the L1 bidder, the Eurofighter Consortium also decided to lower the price of the Typhoon jets to stay in the race. This decision came after extensive discussion amongst the member nations. However, the Indian MoD officials ruled out any possibility of a comeback by the Eurofighter Typhoon in the competition. According to them, Dassault Rafale beat the Typhoon by a huge margin in terms of life cycle costs as well as direct acquisition costs. In March 2012 UK defense minister Gerald Howarth told the British House of Commons that the Eurofighter Consortium respects the Indian government's decision but stands ready to enter further negotiations if possible.