Threat of entrants
Low - Moderate
Fasteners industry is divided into two segments High tensile steel and mid tensile steel. High tensile steel market is controlled by organised sector covering 70% of the total market size and requires superior technology for its production. The process is intricate and requires two main items : high working capital and plenty of tools. No less than 30 tools are necessary to manufacture just one fastener. New fastener manufacturers have to invest heavily in tools, which result in higher start-up costs. Due to the varied design specifications in assemblies, particularly in the automobile sector, fastener producers maintain a large inventory that caters to a diverse clientele. General application fasteners are catered to by the unorganised sector where brand and quality have little meaning and price is the main criteria for selection of the supplier. Though the fastener industry has been delicensed and is eligible for 100 per cent FDI under the automatic route.
Threat of substitutes
NIL
Indian fasteners industry comprises of nuts, bolts, studs, rivets and screws. There are hardly any substitutes for these products in the market.

Bargaining power of suppliers
Moderate - High
There are three major steel fasteners used in industries: stainless steel, carbon steel, and alloy steel. Steel industry in India is highly oligopolistic dominated by few big players such as SAIL, TATA steel, JSW steel, Essar steel and Ispat industries. Such oligopoly and government policies over import and export gives steel suppliers enough power to maintain relatively higher market price(except SAIL) and hence enjoy considerable bargaining power as a supplier.

Bargaining power of buyers
High
The automobile industry is the largest consumer of fasteners. The other major user-segments are textile machinery, railway locomotives, construction, computer hardware and general engineering. There exists huge export potential for Indian industrial fasteners, however, poor product standardisation, relatively higher raw material costs, and low labour productivity makes Indian fasteners less competitive in the global market.