Mahindra Aerospace, the aviation division of India's Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., held discussions on Monday with aircraft part manufacturers in Europe and the U.S. for a stake purchase.

NEW DELHI — India has finally signed a contract with two French firms to upgrade its 51 Mirage combat jets that were acquired in the 1980s. “Thales and Dassault Aviation on Friday [July 29] signed a contract for the upgrade of the Indian Air Force’s Mirage 2000 fleet,” the two companies said in a statement. The federal cabinet committee on security had approved the $2.4 billion deal two weeks ago. India’s government has been negotiating the cost factor with the French companies for almost five years.

Air India’s entry into Star Alliance has been delayed indefinitely after the airline alliance put on hold the Indian flag carrier’s application for a membership. The final decision on suspending Air India’s integration into the 27-airline alliance was made by Star’s executive board at a meeting July 31 in Frankfurt. A seemingly baffled Air India says it fulfilled all conditions of membership, but that is not how Star saw it.