There is something called economies of scale. Mass production will bring down costs, and create jobs locally which compensates for the cost paid initially. The local industrial capabilities being developed is what is of strategic importance.
LCA Tejas RCS is 0.5m2 (clean)
And how far away it will be detected depends on how powerful the radar your enemy aircraft or hostile ground radars are.
Ŵølf PⒶck (@TheLegateIN) Tweeted:
India's HAL Tejas has met each and every technical requirement of the Malaysian Air Force's FLIT/LCA tender: Malaysian media