Report Body

Feasibility Study for Launching Luxury Intercity Coach Service
Chapter One
Background of the Report
1.1. Origin of the Report

Internship program is considered an opportunity for a student to apply his theoretical
knowledge into practical applications. Classroom discussions alone might not be helpful
enough for a student to learn how to handle the real business situations, therefore it is an
opportunity for the students to know about real life situation through this program. The
Internship report is a useful tool to assess the capabilities of a student in this regard
ACI Limited very recently has been following a business market diversification plan
with a wide range of products being offered. This diversification policy of ACI has
encouraged this reputed corporate image holder to look into the High-end Luxury
Transport industry and its prospects to invest in. There has been a rapid growth in this
sector, particularly in Dhaka-Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar and Dhaka-Jessore-Benapol routes.
Considering the recent trend in the market, ACI has grown its interest in this industry to
invest into. Assessing the feasibility of such a big investment in an important issue that
ACI considers and that has been the all along focus of this report.
1.2. Objectives of the report

The objectives of this report have been mentioned below as one broad objective and ten
specific ones. The specific objectives are derived from the broad objective.
1.2.1. Broad Objective

The broad objective of the report this repot is:
 To assess the feasibility of launching a new luxury bus service in the promising
Dhaka-Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar route
Internship Report -ACI Limited 1

1.2.2. Specific Objectives

The specific objectives of the report this repot are:
 To determine the financial feasibility of the project
 To determine the passengers’ most preferred bus service and satisfaction level in
different aspect/features of the provided services
 To determine the demographics of passengers who travel by luxury coaches
more frequently
 To determine whether luxury bus passengers are satisfied or not with the price
they are charged for the service.
 To determine the financial feasibility of the project
 To identify the effective medium to communicate with the target passengers
group.
 To determine the factors considered by passengers while deciding/choosing a
luxury bus operator
 To assess the acceptance of web based ticket booking facilities if launched.
 To determine whether passengers travel by newly launched services or stick to
their preferred operators always.
1.3. Scope of the Study

This report intends to give an insight into the high-end luxury transport (public)
industry of Bangladesh. From the investors point of view it will be a quick guide to the
industry, its current scenario, growth trends, the technical advancement, target market
analysis and so on.
Apart from assessing the financial viability, the perception and mindset of the target
customer group are to be depicted in this report along with some recommendations for
the investor while entering the market when they are willing to.

1.4. Methodology
After identification of the problem a thorough secondary study has been conducted to
gain a comprehensive idea of the problem. Then primary qualitative research followed
by a primary quantitative research has been conducted.
Primary Qualitative Research

To gather the primary information about the luxury transport industry in Bangladesh, 2
types of qualitative surveys namely KII and FGD have been done. 2 KIIs were done on
key personnel within the industry who have been involved in operating the high-end
bus services in different important routes of Bangladesh. Staffs of leading bus operators
were also interviewed to collect further information on the operational details of luxury
coach services.
Quantitative Analysis
The quantitative survey was conducted on luxury bus passengers. Before that a
questionnaire was developed in correspondence with the findings from qualitative
survey. The convenience of the sample units were a factor considered while designing of
the questionnaire. Since passengers don’t stay in the counters/terminal for long, the
length of the questionnaire was also an issue to be taken into consideration.
Sampling Frame and Method

The survey will be done on the available passengers of luxury coach services picked up
from different touch points (Ticket counters and bus terminal). The sampling type that is
opted for is Convenient Sampling under Non-Probability Sampling. For primary
quantitative research, Intercept Survey method has been adopted to conduct the survey
on luxury coach passengers. Some passengers were also contacted over the internet to
take part in the survey.
1.5. Sources of Information

Information collected to furnish this report is both from primary and secondary sources.
Primary data has been collected by “Executive interview”. Some interviews with
different officials of different financial institution has been encompass Secondary data
has been collected from the various publications, internet, previous research report on
this topic etc.

1.6. Limitations of the Study

There are several limitations of this study report. These are:
 The study has been done in Dhaka region only. A large number of
passengers travel by luxury coaches annually. The size of sample might
not be representative of the total target market.
 The market share of individual operators were unavailable as none was
ready to disclose financial data. So, the report considered the secondary
sources as the representative of the market.
 The assumptions made while doing the financial analysis are not
necessarily representative of the true situation.
 The total financing of the project has been considered to be financed by
loans which is not most-likely considering the market risks involved.
 The occupancy rate expected by ACI might not be feasible round the year.

Chapter Two
Company Overview
1.7. ACI Limited and its History

ACI Limited was originated from Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) Plc of the UK. In
1973, ICI Plc, established a subsidiary in Dhaka, known as ICI Bangladesh
Manufacturers Limited. In 1992, ICI plc divested its share to local management, and the
company was renamed Advanced Chemical Industries (ACI) Limited. ACI inherited the
rich ICI culture of product quality, customer service and social responsibility and
continues to nurture this culture.
What was primarily a Pharmaceutical business in 1992 with a turnover of Tk.80 million
with stagnant growth, the new management brought about fundamental changes in
policies and has grown through diversified business interest including personal care
products, food products, animal health, agrochemicals and seeds in addition to gaining a
strong position in Pharmaceuticals.
ACI is the first company in Bangladesh to obtain certification of ISO 9001 Quality
Management System in 1995. ACI is also the first Company in Bangladesh to get
certification of ISO 14001 Environmental Management System in 2000. ACI employees
are proud of their work culture, business ethics and environmental consciousness.
ACI values are embodied in its vision and mission statements. ACI quality and
environmental concerns are clearly stated through declared policies. ACI represents
principals like AstraZeneca, UCB, Searle and Fujisawa in Pharmaceuticals business;
Colgate-Palmolive, Heinz & Dabur in Consumer Products sector; Synzenta in
Agrochemicals; Ranbaxy, Dabur, Wockhardt, Sanofi and Invesa in Animal Health sector.

1.8. Company Mission and Vision

Corporate mission and vision of ACI Limited are very well descriptive of their values,
practices and standards.
Mission
ACI’s mission is to enrich the quality of life of people through responsible application of
knowledge, skills and technology. ACI is committed to the pursuit of excellence through
world-class products, innovative processes and empowered employees to provide the
highest level of satisfaction to its customers.
Company Vision
To realize the mission of the organization, ACI wants to:
 Endeavor to attain a position of leadership in each category of its businesses.
 Attain a high level of productivity in all its operations through effective and
efficient use of resources, adoption of appropriate technology and alignment with
our core competencies.
 Develop its employees by encouraging empowerment and rewarding innovation.
 Promote an environment for learning and personal growth of its employees.
 Provide products and services of high and consistent quality, ensuring value for
money to its customers.
 Encourage and assist in the qualitative improvement of the services of its suppliers
and distributors.
 Establish harmonious relationship with the community and promote greater
environmental responsibility within its sphere of influence.
1.9. Company Values

 Quality
 Customer Focus
 Fairness
 Transparency
 Continuous Improvement
 Innovation

1.10. Corporate Management of ACI

1.10.1. Board of Directors
The board of Directors in ACI is headed by the company chairman Mr. M. Anis Dowla.
His son Mr. Dr. Arif Dowla is the present Managing Director of this company. The board
consists of 8 Directors who have brought ACI to today’s Market leading position in
terms of a number of high-quality products.
1.10.2. Executive Management

 Mr. Monibuz Zaman Chief Operating Officer, Pharmaceuticals
 Dr. F H Anserey Executive Director, Agribusiness
 Mr. Azmal Hossain Executive Director, Trade
 Mr. Syed Alamgir Executive Director, Consumer Brands
 Mr. Mualiem A. Choudhury CFO & Executive Director, Finance & Planning
 Ms. Sheema Abed Rahman Director, Corporate Affairs
 Mr. Towfiqur Rahaman Director, Business Development
 Mr. Priyatosh Datta Director Quality Assurance
 Mr. Abdus Sadeque Director Marketing & Sales
 Mr. Pradip Kar Chowdhury Financial Controller
 Mr. Imran Ahmed Istiak General Manager, Operations
 Mr. Asif Iqbal Chief Operating Officer, ACI Logistics
The detailed management structure of ACI Limited is illustrated in the following page.
1.11. Functional Departments of ACI

The functional departments of ACI can be divided into 2 categories according to their
contribution to the company’s day to day activities..
1.11.1. Core Functional Departments

The core functional departments of ACI are as follows:
 General Administration
 Production Department
 Corporate Communications
 Marketing and Distribution
1.11.2. Support Functional Departments

 Finance Department
 Human Resource Department
 Information Technology Department
 Business Development Department

Figure 1: Management Structure of ACI Limited
Managing Director
Chief Operating Officer (Pharma)
Director, Marketing and Sales (Pharma)
Deputy General Manager
Regional Sales Manager
Marketing Manager
Medical Services Manager
Manager, Medical Information & Research
Market research Manager
General Manager, Operations
Production Manager & Officer In-Charge (Unit – I)
Production Manager & Officer In-Charge (Unit – II)
Manager, Engineering
Manager, Administration & HR
Director, Quality Assurance
Quality Assurance Manager
Manager, Quality Control
Product Development Manager
Executive Director, Finance & Planning
Financial Controller
Corporate Finance Manager
Materials Controller
Executive Director, Agribusiness
Business Director, Agriculture
National Sales Manager, CC & PH
Business Director, Livestock & Fisheries
Marketing Manager, ACI Motors Limited
National Sales Manager, ACI Motors Limited
Marketing Manager, Fertilizer
Marketing Manager, Seed
GMO, ACI Formulations
Executive Director, Consumer Brands
Business Director, CB
Marketing Manger
Group Product Manager
Head of Sales & Distribution
Sales Manager
Business Manager, ACI Pure Four Limited
Brand Manager, ACI Pure Four Limited
Factory Manger, ACI Pure Four Limited
Business Manager, ACI Foods Limited
Brand Manager, ACI Foods Limited
Factory Manger, ACI Foods Limited
GMO, ACI Salt Limited
Sales Manager, ACI Commodity Product
Chief Operating Officer, ACI Logistics
Head of Creative Communication
Internal Auditor
Manager MIS
Director, Business Development
Director, Corporate Affairs
National Distribution Manager
Head of Training
Assistant Training Manager
Estate and Legal Affairs Manager
Assistant Manger, HR

1.12. Strategic Business Units (SBU)
In 2004, ACI Pharmaceuticals was ranked 11th in the Bangladesh Pharmaceuticals

Industry. It provides the market with a wide selection of drugs across all major
therapeutic classes, and also offers some specialty medicines. ACI Pharmaceutical
represents Astra Zeneca, Eli Lily and UCB in Bangladesh.
ACI Crop Care and Public Health Division is holding the leadership position in the
industry; Animal Health has experienced one of the highest growth rates in this sector.
ACI Agribusiness has partnerships with several international conglomerates including
Ceva Santhe Animale, Invesa, UCB, Isagro Asia and Borregaard Taicang Chemicals Co.
Ltd.
ACI Consumer Brands is a leading Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) company in
Bangladesh. In the liquid antiseptic and mosquito repellant categories, this division is a
very strong market leader. Foreign partners represented in by this division include
Godrej Consumer Products (for hair care and skin care products), Parle Group (for Parle
G biscuits), Beiersdorf, Germany (for Nivea range of products) and Colgate Palmolive.
ACI has formed joint ventures with leading FMCG and agribusiness players in the
region. These are:
 Asian Consumer Care Private Limited: Joint venture of ACI and Redrock
Limited, for distribution of various ranges of Dabur products in Bangladesh. ACI
holds 50% stake in the venture.
 Tetley ACI Bangladesh Limited: Joint venture of ACI and Tetley Group of
United Kingdom for distribution of Tetley products in Bangladesh, with ACI
having 50% shareholding.
Many ACI products have crossed our national boundary and are being successfully
exported to various countries in Asia, the Middle East and the CIS region. The response
of foreign consumers to our products has been encouraging.

1.12.1. Healthcare Division

New products are the lifeblood of this growing business of ACI Limited. They have
recently launched a number of new products that contributed to a substantial portion of
their business growth. Acical D, Meflon, Livita, Povital and Minolac were some of the
most successful launches recently with promising prospect. ACI Pharmaceuticals
formulates and markets a comprehensive range of more than 120 products covering all
major therapeutic areas, which come in tablet, capsule, powder, liquid, cream, ointment,
gel, ophthalmic and injection forms. ACI also markets world-renowned branded
pharmaceutical products like Diprivan, Fluothane, Nolvadex, Accolate, Meronem,
Atarax, Humulin, Ceclor etc. from world-class multinational companies. ACI is actively
engaged in introducing newer molecules and Novel Drug Delivery Systems (NDDS) to
meet the needs of the future.
ACI introduced the concept of quality management system by being the first company in
Bangladesh to achieve ISO 9001 certification in 1995 and follows the policy of continuous
improvement in all its operations. Aligned with the concept that a pharmaceutical must
ensure effective management of environment, ACI complies with standard environment
management policy, thus adorned with EMS 14001 in 2000.
ACI’s pharmaceutical business has been showing steady growth over the years. They
have expanded the customer base and frequency of customer contact to increase the
business volume. They maintain a congenial and supportive relationship with the
healthcare community of Bangladesh, with the belief that business excellence can only be
achieved through pursuit of quality by understanding, accepting, meeting and exceeding
customer expectations. The management of ACI, a competent team of professionals, thus
operates with a progressive attitude to provide effective solutions to satisfy the
customers’ needs, through its products and services of uncompromising quality
1.12.2. Consumer Brands Division

ACI Consumer Brands was initiated in 1995 with two major brands of the company –
ACI Aerosol and Savlon. These are two of most prestigious products which are enjoying
the leadership position in the market. The division started to take new businesses
through off shore trading as well as local manufacturing. In this process ACI Consumer
Brands launched many new products and also bonded with Joint Venture business

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relationships with ‘Dabur India’ and ‘Tetley UK’ and attained international alliances
with world renowned companies.
ACI Consumer Brands Strategic Business Unit is headed by the Executive Director, Mr.
Syed Alamgir. Mr Alamgir is regarded as an authoritarian personality in the area of
Sales and Marketing in Bangladesh market. His track record has many successful brands
which reached leadership position in different categories in FMCG market. He is
supported by competent group of professionals working in the Marketing and Sales
operations, lead by Business Manager. The sales team consists of a National sales
Manager, 08 Zonal sales Managers and 61 Area Sales Managers. At the bottom of the
sales team there are 381sales representatives. The business has a strong distribution
network of 19 Depots around the country to make the business more convenient for its
209 Distributors.
The food business like ACI Salt has a separate sales team, headed by a Sales Manager, 5
Zonal Managers, 4 Area Sales Managers, 43 Territory Sales Supervisors and 170 Sales
Representatives with 400 distributors to sell high quality international standard edible
salt.
The marketing team comprises of Brand Managers and Product Executives all of whom
are graduated from renowned Business Schools of Bangladesh and abroad and working
day and night to have newer fantastic ideas.
The detailed profile of ACI’s consumer product range is given here.
Home Care Products

ACI Limited is proud of the products line that builds up this part of the Consumer
Brands division. These products are: ACI Aerosol and ACI Mosquito Coil.
ACI Aerosol is one of the prestigious products of this country which has been enjoying
the market leadership position since its marketing in 1967. ACI Aerosol is produced
through a unique process of production and quality checking. The Formulation Factory
of ACI Aerosol is situated in Rajabari, Gazipur. This factory was established with the
technical collaboration of UNDP. The product is one of its kinds with unique fragrance
and mosquito killing ability. It is fully free from any environmentally perilous material

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like CFC. ACI Aerosol has four different pack sizes. They are: 250 ml, 350ml, 475 ml and
800 ml.
ACI Mosquito Coil is another product of the Home Care category products of ACI
Consumer Brands. It is also produced in ACI Formulations. ACI Mosquito Coil has some
differentiation based on color, shape and fragrance. These are: ACI Mosquito Coil Green,
ACI Super Coil and ACI Super Plus High Booster Coil. ACI Coils enjoys very
predominant position and fighting to become absolute leader in the market place.
Air Care Products

ACI has another very attractive product in this Air Care category with Angelic Fresh Air
Freshener. This is the first ever locally manufactured Air Freshener of this country
whose fragrances has been seriously applauded by the users and has become market
leader in two years time. Angelic Air Freshener has two variants based on two serene
fragrances. They are: Citrus Burst and Orchid Breeze.
Hygiene Products
ACI has another very strong range of products in its Hygiene Product category. Savlon
is almost an essential product in every home of this country. Savlon Liquid Antiseptic is
the highest selling antiseptics. It is used in minor burn, cut and abrasion. Savlon has
unique proportion to heal and sooth wound and protect from infection. It washes the
wound, heals and protects instantly from getting infection. It has more than 75% market
share of its category.
Savlon Antiseptic Cream is another range of products in Hygiene Product category. The
product is basically another disinfectant for using only on skin surfaces. It also cleans the
wound, soothes and heals the pain. It has a special effect on skin-cut or wounds because
it can stay for longer time on the impact area than Savlon liquid antiseptic.
Savlon liquid Soap is a powerful hand wash which not only kills bacteria but also
moisturizes the skin. Savlon liquid Soap has two pack sizes. They are: 250 ml, 1000ml.
250 ml pack has both dispenser and refill pack.
Savlon range takes care of almost all the aspects of hygiene of a family. For bath time
pleasure and protection from bacteria and also a stress less shower, ACI Consumer

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Brands has Savlon Family Protection Soap in two different sizes. For feminine hygiene
ACI launched Savlon Femme Sanitary Napkin recently. This product is very good in
quality as it has ‘Super Absorbent Polymer’ to keep its user dry for whole day. The
product has two variants: Regular and Heavy Flow.
ACI has introduced a high quality toilet cleaner for the disinfection and cleaning in the
brand name of Vanish Toilet Cleaner. The product kills bacteria in the toilet, fragrances
the surroundings and keeps the toilet sparkling. The hygiene products from ACI have
shown a growth of almost 50% over the last couple of years.
Food Items
ACI has recently launched a unique product for the first time in Bangladesh in its food
items category, ‘ACI Salt’. ACI Salt was launched in 2005. The best in its kind, ACI Salt is
vacuum evaporated, free flowing and rightly iodized. Vacuum evaporation technique
gives the product the utmost purity as it is free from all kinds of dirt. It is also very
porous and free flowing. Iodine is coated in every single grain which makes it an
essential product for the children; the absence of right quantity of iodine in their food
may cause mental disability to them.
ACI also has a very fine quality mineral water ‘Pure Drinking Water’. Pure drinking
water can be found in 600 ml and 1500 ml PET bottle as well as in Jar for corporate use.
1.12.3. Joint Venture Brands

Dabur India
ACI Ltd has Joint Venture with one of the leading companies of India, Dabur India as
Asian Consumer Care Ltd. Dabur has a long range of food items which is distributed
through the channels of ACI Consumer Brands. These products are very popular in
Bangladesh Market. The food items are:
Dabur Honey.
Dabur Chawanprush.
ACI Consumer Brands also markets the personal care products of Dabur. The personal
care products of Dabur are:
Dabur Amla Hair Oil.

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Dabur Vatika Hair Oil.

Nivea Vatika Shampoo
Dabur Vatika Face pack.
All these products of Dabur are already known to the customers through various
satellite channels and bringing good name for both Dabur and ACI.
Tetley Uk
ACI Ltd also has Joint Venture business with Tetley Tea of UK in the name of Tetley ACI
Bangladesh Ltd (TABL). Tetley produces one of the finest qualities Tea in various pack
sizes, both in laminated pack and tea bags. Tetley tea has become a household name and
demand of the product is on high increase.
1.12.4. International Alliances

Oral Care: Colgate Palmolive
ACI represents Colgate Palmolive Company as exclusive marketing partner and
distributor for the territory of Bangladesh. Colgate is the world wide leader of the oral
care products category. The products have a high demand among the consumers of
Bangladesh like any where in the world. Colgate tooth paste removes plaque and keeps
the mouth fresh for long time. Colgate herbal toothpaste is a unique kind of herbal
solution for teeth and gum related problems and has a very high demand among
consumers.
Personal Care: NIVEA

ACI was appointed as sole distributor and marketing partner of Beiersdorf AG,
Germany the manufacturer of Nivea brand products. The products are best in their
category in respect of quality. Nivea products are getting popular day by day in
Bangladesh.
Hair Care: Godrej

We represent Godrej Consumer Products Limited to market their products.
Currently the demands of Godrej hair dye products are on sharp rise.
Low Calorie Sweetener: Merisant

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ACI consumer Brand markets low calorie sweetener products of Merisant for weight
conscious customers and also for them who want to avoid direct sugar. The products
are: Canderel and Equal both in tablet and powder form.
1.12.5. Agribusiness Division

ACI’s Agribusiness is made up of three divisions namely Crop Care & Public Health,
Animal Health and Seed. Despite the political volatility, ACI has been enjoying a steady
growth in this sector. Granular Herbicides are the main product of ACI in this market
along with other options to provide a complete range of solutions to the farmers. ACI
conduct periodic training program s and it has a research and development station in
Bogra. ACI’s commitment here is to improve the quality, quantity and variety of
agricultural outputs of the farmers through knowledge based services and the farmers.

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1.13. Subsidiaries and Associated Companies

 ACI Formulations Limited
ACI Formulations Limited (ACI FL) is a subsidiary of ACI Limited, located at Gazipur,
in the outskirt of Dhaka. ACI FL manufactures majority of the products of ACI Strategic
Business Limited except for the Pharmaceutical Division. The factory is equipped with
the state of the art facilities for product formulations and process innovation. These
include modern computerized equipment like HPLC and GLC.
The product range manufactured at ACI FL include Crop Protection Chemicals like
insecticides, herbicides and fungicides in granular, powder and liquid forms, Mosquito
Pesticides in the forms of aerosols, vaporizers and coils; and household chemicals like
toilet cleaners and hand wash
 ACI Salt Limited

ACI has set up its salt refining plant in Rupganj, on the banks of the Shitalakhya River.
The plant will produce refined iodized salt through Thermal Evaporation System. ACI
has used technology from China Heavy Machineries Corporation (CHMC) in
establishing the plant. The end product will be of high quality, free-flowing salt with
even, crystallized grains. The iodine content of ACI salt will have a stability of more than
6 months. The project has been undertaken at an approximate cost of Taka 32 crores.
Some other subsidiaries and companies associated to ACI are:

 ACI Foods Limited
 ACI Pure Flour Limited
 Apex Leather Craft Limited
 Flyban Insecticides Limited
 ACI Godrej Agrovet
 Asian Consumer Care (ACC)
 Tetley ACI

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1.14. Distribution Network of ACI

The company maintains strategically located sales centers in nineteen different locations
across the country. It has developed an advanced distribution system through its more
than 300 skilled and trained manpower and a large fleet over eighty vehicles. The
distribution system is capable of handling continuing volume of diverse range of
products from the various businesses.
The company’s distribution centers are highly streamlined, computerized and

automated. We are capable of maintaining a cold chain for some specialized range of
products such as vaccines and insulin. The combination of this advanced function and
multidimensional capabilities made it possible to handle hundreds of products
efficiently.
1.15. Financials of ACI

Financial Details of ACI limited as per Year Ending December 2007 are as follows:
Amount in Million Taka (in nearest percentile)
2006 2007 Changes
Sales 4238 5756 35.82%
Gross Profit 1467 2008 36.88%
Net Profit 168 363 116.07%
EPS 10.24 21.04 105.47%
Share Capital 162 162 0.00%
Total Assets 2915 4731 62.30%
Total Expenses 1015 1392 37.14%
Long Term Bank Loan 45 281 524.44%
Trade Debtors 443 907 104.74%
Investment 38 62 63.16%
Table 1.1: Financial Details of ACI Limited
1.16. Manufacturing Standards

ACI has three separate manufacturing plants in the outskirts of Dhaka. The
Pharmaceuticals plant is located at Narayanganj; ACI Formulations has been setup at
Gazipur and the Tetley factory has been built at Konabari. ACI has very recently entered
into the premium quality salt market with its factory in Rupganj thana of Narayanganj.
ACI Limited is the first company in Bangladesh to have attained the ISO 9001
certification for Quality Management System and ISO 14001 for Environmental

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Management System. The Trading subsidiary has also received ISO 9002 certificate. At
our manufacturing facilities, we follow cGMP guidelines and standards recommended
by World Health Organization (WHO) for pharmaceutical formulations.
1.17. Market Diversifications by ACI

ACI Limited is venturing into new areas of business, as part of its diversification
initiatives. Such businesses being set up are ACI Motors. and ACI Godrej Agrovet
Private Limited.
Godrej is a pioneer in the packaged meat business in India. It is also the market leader in
the poultry industry, and the owner of ‘Real Good’ brand. ACI and Godrej have a joint
venture in Bangladesh to set up an Integrated Poultry Project. Under this project, ACI
Godrej Agrovet has already set up a feed mill at Sirajganj. This is fully automatic pellet
poultry and fisheries feed mill, which uses technology from Jiangsu Muyang group of
China. The company has also set up a hatchery at Joynabazar, on the Dhaka
Mymensingh road, with technology from Godrej. The plans for this project also include
establishing Grand Parents and Parent Stock breeding farms. The investment in the
project is Taka 8 crores, with ACI Limited having 50% shareholding of the company.
1.18. Quality Policy

ACI's mission is to achieve business excellence through quality by understanding,
accepting, meeting and exceeding customer expectations. ACI follows International
Standards on Quality Management System to ensure consistent quality of products and
services to achieve customer satisfaction. ACI also meets all national regulatory
requirements relating to its current businesses and ensures that current Good
Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) as recommended by World Health Organization is
followed for its pharmaceutical operations.
The management of ACI commits itself to quality as the prime consideration in all its
business decisions. All employees of ACI must follow documented procedures to ensure
compliance with quality standards.
The pool of human resources of the company will be developed to their full potential

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and harnessed through regular training and their participation in seeking continuous
improvement of work methods.
1.19. Environmental Policy

ACI is committed to maintain the harmonious balance of our eco-system and therefore
constantly seeks ways to manufacture and produce products in an eco-friendly manner
so that the balance of nature remains undisturbed and the environment remains
sustainable.
In pursuit of this goal, ACI will

 Comply fully with all local and national environmental regulations.
 Conserve natural resources like water and energy for sustainable development,
and adopt environmentally safe processes.
 Ensure appropriate treatment of all effluents prior to discharge, to prevent
pollution or degradation of environment.
 Ensure appropriate communication and cooperate with internal and external
interested parties on environmental issues.
 Create awareness on environmental issues among our employees and suppliers.
 Adopt modern waste management technology.
1.20. Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) Policy

ACI is committed to conduct all its opearations in a manner that is protective of the
environment, health and safety of employees, customers and the community. To this end
ACI has already obtained ISO 140001 certification for Environment Management System.
ACI aims to provide the resources to educate and involve every individual in the
company in achieving this objective. ACI follows its own principles to adhere to while
maintaining a continuing effort.
1.21. ACI Global Compact Endorsement

ACI Limited has been the only company in Bangladesh to have its Communication on
Progress recognized as notable by United Nation Global Compact Office. The ACI group
has consistently demonstrated its commitment towards its employees and the

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environment over the years. It has been recognized as the practitioner and promoter of
socially responsible business behavior.
To take this commitment even further, ACI has endorsed the Principles of Global
Compact on August 18, 2003. The Global Compact is a remarkable initiative sponsored
by the United National Secretary General Koffi Annan. It is based on a very simple
notion: whether or not required by law, corporations should enforce basic human rights
and accepted labor and environmental standards in all their business activities, to
counterbalance possible negative effects of globalization.
The compact calls on companies to embrace the ten universal principles in the key areas
of human rights, labor standards and the environment. These ten principles are:
Human Rights
 To support and respect International Human Rights within the company's sphere
of influence.
 To make sure that their own corporations are not complicit with Human Rights
Violation.
Labor Standards
 To end discrimination in the workplace.
 Abolition of child labor.
 The right to collective bargaining and recognition of freedom of association.
 To eliminate the use of forced and compulsory labor.
Environment
 To support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges.
 To undertake initiative to promote greater environmental responsibility.
 To encourage the diffusion of environmentally friendly technology.
Anti-Corruption
 To work against all forms of corruption, including extortion and bribery.
ACI pledges to keep all its employees, customers, shareholders and suppliers regularly
informed about the compact and the company’s initiatives to uphold the principles. As a
continuous support to the Global Compact initiative, ACI has undertaken several actions
which will help it to get more aligned with Global Compact Activities.

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Communication on Progress Status

The Communication on Progress (CoP) is a description of actions taken by participants
in support of the Global Compact. Participants here are required to develop a CoP both
to ensure and deepen the commitment of and to safeguard the integrity of the initiative.
The Global Compact Office recognizes companies for the quality of their CoP which are
listed on the webpage as “Notable CoPs”.

1
Chapter Three
CSR by ACI Limited
3.0 CSR Activities by ACI Limited

ACI’s guiding principle in all its operations is to be a ‘responsible corporate citizen’.
Thus, Social Responsibility is a top priority for every individual at ACI. Our endeavors
toward discharging our social responsibilities have become more focused since our
adoption of the principles of the Global Compact.
3.1. Societal Development through Educational Programs

Initiatives that have shown significant contribution to societal development are
Continued Medical Education (CME) for medical professionals and Children’s
Education programs.
A dedicated team of medical graduates makes up the Medical Services Department

(MSD) in ACI, which carries out CME programs termed ‘Clinical Meetings’ all across
Bangladesh. These are essentially non-advertised meets of medical professionals that
serve as a training and knowledge-sharing forum, often conducted by experts on the
subject. Our partners in development for these programs are doctors, medical
associations and/or departments, and various study groups. The level of involvement of
ACI in these programs may range from only sponsoring the entire program to providing
all types of services and technical support to the presenter to even conducting the
program by an MSD doctor. Support from MSD include research support for
deliberations at the meet, literature and multimedia presentation for the program,
updates on new technology and thoughts in medical fields, and even educational
support to any participant in their area of interest.
The Bangladesh Today, a media unit of ACI, started a Children’s Club two years ago.
The Children’s Club holds many cultural events and competitions all year round. The
Children’s Carnival is a major annual event that draws a huge number of participants.
ACI has also undertaken an English Education program in Faridpur, one of the remotest

2
districts of Bangladesh. This provides support to teach English Language to school going
children.
Outcome
Doctors in Bangladesh who are not living in the metropolitan cities have very limited
access to the Internet or any other sources of information. In order to keep them updated
on the developments in the medical practices regularly, the CME program has been
proven highly effective. During 2004 alone, the number of such meetings held was 342,
participated by approximately 18,000 (eighteen thousand) doctors. When compared to
the 2003 figures of 100 meetings with 5000 participants, the impact of our efforts can be
seen reflected in the tremendous rate of growth.
The Children’s Club now has over 1000 members who actively engage in pursuits of
creative learning. They are grooming themselves to be well-rounded individuals with
skills in foreign languages, arts, crafts and music. ACI believes that by promoting
education of children, we are contributing to societal development by shaping the minds
of our future leaders
3.2. Educating the Farmers, with a Focus on Environment Friendly Practices

Advanced Chemical Industries, the successor of Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) in
Bangladesh, is the first ISO certified company in the country. Our commitment to
environment protection is reflected in our ISO 14001 certification.
ACI has undertaken extensive programs to educate crop farmers all over rural
Bangladesh in Good Agricultural Practices. We have a team of agricultural experts
working at the field level all across the country, holding a range of technical trainings
and field demonstrations. Their activities include:
 Field demonstrations on various methods of crop protection that pose the least
hazard for the environment
 Training on new technologies of cultivation, for higher yields and new crops.
 Training to channel partners (e.g. retailers and agricultural extension workers) and
third parties (e.g. NGO workers)

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ACI also has similar education programs for animal and poultry farmers. These include
 Technical trainings on diverse aspects of farming, and on application of new
technologies
 Farmers’ group meeting for sharing of learning and experiences
 Free visits to farms by veterinarians, to identify problems and give advice to
individual farmers
Outcomes
Our farmers are mostly illiterate persons, having learnt the art and science of farming by
assisting their family on the fields. Our continuous endeavors to educate farmers have
given significant benefits on three fronts:
 Raising the level of awareness among farmers on improving their agricultural

output through application of new technology, encouraging them to share
experiences with neighboring farmers and, in the long run, developing educated
farmers.
 Raising the educational level and technical knowledge of channel partners and
third parties who act as advisors to the farmers.
 Most importantly, making practicing farmers aware of ways to protect the
environment from hazardous uses of chemicals on their farms, allowing them the
opportunity for informed decision-making.
ACI hopes to continue to play a leading role in promoting greater environmental

responsibility among farmers in Bangladesh making it even more profitable for the
farmers in the long run.
3.3. Rehabilitation Program for Cyclone SIDR Affected Victims

November 15, 2007, Bangladesh faced one of the biggest natural disasters in past 15
years. With a velocity of 220-250 Km/hr, cyclone Sidr destroyed the lives of thousands of
people, leaving many homeless, taking lives of the beloved ones and shattering dreams
and hopes of millions. It was reported that even after evacuating the entire costal areas
more then 3000 lost their life by this cyclone.

4
In a time like this ACI, as a socially responsible company, took the initiative to restore
the lives of all those it could reach. Through a massive program called Ghure Darai
(Turning Around) ACI reached out for serving the humanity which was implemented in
two phases:
 Immediate treatment of cyclone affected people and domestic animals
 Rehabilitation to help them turn around in future
OUTCOMES
Immediate treatment of cyclone affected people & domestic animals:
 7 floating medical units with doctors and trained medical staff were deployed for 9
days to giving medical treatment to the cyclone affected.
 These medical units covered 7 areas and gave free medical treatment to more then
3000 cyclone affected people out of which 45% where women, 35% men and 20%
children.
 2 veterinary doctors where sent with
the required facilities who treated
2600 animals of these people as life of
many families are depended on it.
 Free medicine and other necessary
materials where given to all those
who need them but had no access to
it.
Rehabilitation to help them turn around

future:
200 houses were built for 200 families
across five (05) villages making shelter
accessible to all those who needed it most.
The picture on the right shows the people Figure 3.1: ACI Limited Providing medical
of ACI involved in the construction and Rehabilitation facilities to the victims of

Cyclone SIDR

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Chapter Four
5.The Project and
6. The Problem Statement
Road transport operators in Bangladesh have invested enormous amount of money to

modernize the long-distance luxury travel system and attracted more and more
passengers in recent years. We are now in a quite different situation considering the
acceptance of world famous luxurious coach brands like Mercedes, Scania, Volvo, and
Hino in our local public transport industry. In transporting passengers, bus companies
have captured a significant portion of all the available modes of transportation. In the
future, they are expected to attract more passengers as people are now more inclined
towards flexible lifestyle and more of an outgoing nature considering the busy work life
and moreover the boom of internal tourism in Bangladesh is playing a vital role in this
regard.
Keeping the recent transport industry growth and ACI’s own business diversification in
mind, ACI Limited has developed its interest in the passenger transport services in the
country. ACI plans to enter into the industry introducing its own fleet of luxurious coach
services in selected routes. The feasibility of such investment is a very important issue in
this prospect.
Therefore the problem statement can be stated as follows,
“ACI Limited does not know of the feasibility of introducing an inter-city luxury
bus service to ply on major domestic routes of the country”

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4.1. Working Definition of Keywords

The problem statement stated above contains the following words that need to be
clarified before going into the project details.
 Feasibility
Studying a project’s feasibility is a preliminary study undertaken to determine and
document a project's viability. A feasibility study is an important part of creating a
business plan for a new enterprise, since it has been estimated that only one idea in fifty
is commercially viable. Feasibility studies comprise of different feasibility components,
namely Technical Feasibility, Schedule Feasibility, Cultural Feasibility, Legal Feasibility,
Marketing and Economic Feasibility and Schedule Feasibility. (www.wikipedia.org)
Working Definition- Feasibility:

For this particular feasibility study, we will be concerned with only the Marketing and
Economic Feasibility of the proposed project. ACI Limited will consider the project
viable if the annual market size is over Tk. 5 billion and have a growth rate of at least
15% annually. Again, considering the financial feasibility of the project, the profit margin
is expected to be over 15% to consider the project a viable one. The interest of passengers
in newly launched services is also a criteria for ACI to look into.
 Luxury Bus Service in Bangladesh

There are a number of models of luxurious coaches currently plying on domestic as well
as international routes. For this project, only Air-Conditioned (AC) Luxury Bus Service is
considered to be launched. The existing coaches in the market are,
1. 40 (2+2 array) and 34 (eleven 2+1 array) seated HINO and ISUZU AC coaches,
2. 45 (2+2 array) and 38 (eight 2+2 array & two 2+1 array) seated VOLVO AC
coaches,
3. 44 (2+2 array) and 27 (nine 2+1 array) SCANIA AC coaches (GreenLine)
4. 41 seater Mercedes-Benz AC coaches (Soudia S.Alam)
Working Definition: Luxury Bus Service:

ACI Limited is willing to introduce a high-end luxury bus service providing the
passengers with the utmost comfort and safety while on the ride. They intend to launch
ten (10) units of 38 seater luxury coaches initially from Sweedish brand Scania and

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German brand Mercedes-Benz. These coaches will have two types of seats namely
Economy and Business class in a 32+6 arrangement respectively. The business class seats
are likely to have a 2+1 arrangement along with personal multimedia and body massage
facilities within their seating areas. Whereas the economy class passengers will have
seats in a 2+2 arrangement with more standardized options like reclining seats and
personalized audio channel systems.
 Major Routes
According to the revenue generation point of view, the important domestic routes for
Luxury AC coach services in Bangladesh are very few in number. Such as, Dhaka-
Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar, Dhaka-Jessore Benapol, Dhaka-Jessore Khulna, Dhaka-Sylhet,
Dhaka-Bogra-Rangpur-Burimari, etc. Among the other routes having luxury AC buses
are Dhaka-Rangpur-Dinajpur, Dhaka Rajshahi, Dhaka-Norshingdi, Dhaka-Sirajgonj, etc.
Working Definition- Major Routes:

As per ACI’s interest into the transport industry of Bangladesh, they are more willing to
introduce their coach service on the most important of all routes, i.e. Dhaka-Chittagong-
Cox’sBazar initially. They plan to launch similar coach services on Dhaka-Jessore
Benapol and Dhaka-Sylhet routes as well based on the market response in the initial
Dhaka-Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar route.
4.2. Secondary Research

Road transport network is the most important means of the communication system in
Bangladesh as elsewhere in the world. In fact, road transport in our country has come
forward to be the most dominant mode in motorized surface transportation carrying in
recent years over 70% of passenger and over 50% of freight traffic respectively.
Road Transport facilities have developed in Bangladesh territory at a slow pace in the
past because of the predominance of a water transport system in the vast network of
rivers. Physical complexity, particularly a dense network of rivers with numerous large
and small tributaries, tidal channels and very low elevation have largely determined the
evolution and nature of transportation system in earlier days in the bengal delta. The
region is so flat and low that the mean elevation hardly rises anywhere to more than a
few meters above sea level. During the rainy season it becomes a vast waterlogged area

8
where boats of various sizes and shapes appeared to be the only possible modes of
transportation in many places even if a few decades ago. In a region such as this, all-
weather roads and railways could be developed only on high embankments with
numerous culverts and bridges to overcome the barrier of water bodies. (Source:
www.banglapedia.org)
The Dhaka-Chittagong Corridor, which connects the two largest cities in the country,
Dhaka- the capital- and Chittagong- the largest commercial and port city, is the most
important transport corridor in the Bangladesh. It covers 16% of the country, 50% of the
population, 57% of the nation’s GDP, and two thirds of the nation’s import-export flows.
Chittagong Port handles about 90% of the country’s international traffic. The corridor
includes roads, rail, and inland waterways. The road carries 51% of the current freight
traffic in the corridor, the inland waterway 43%, and the railway 6%. The railway carries
most of the container traffic; no containers are carried by the waterways. Development of
the transport network in the corridor is facing major challenges which, if not addressed,
will severely constrain the country’s growth prospects. The 233 km Dhaka-Chittagong
highway, mostly two lanes (84%) with some four-lane (16%) sections, is congested and
overused. It is mostly undivided, and carries about 51% of the freight ton-km in the
corridor. This highway is heavily congested in the vicinity of numerous towns along the
route, especially at the conjunction points with Dhaka and Chittagong. Traffic on the
highway averages 16,000 vehicles per day, not including non-motorized vehicles and
pedestrian traffic. Among the motorized vehicles, about 42% are freight vehicles; and
about 80% of these are open or closed trucks. However, few (less than 1%) of these
trucks carry containers. The average travel time for buses between Dhaka and
Chittagong is about 6 hours. Like most national roads in Bangladesh, the Dhaka-
Chittagong highway is not adequately maintained. The structures along the highway are
designed for maximum 30-ton vehicles. This is a major constraint for the shipment of
large containers by road. The axle-load limit in the corridor is set at 10.2 tons; this limit is
not adequately enforced by the police, which results in further deterioration of the
highway and adds to the maintenance needs. The highway has one toll plaza near
Meghna Bridge. The remaining sections are free to road users. (Source: www.adb.org)
Passengers belonging to affluent society segments now-a-days prefer luxury buses to
trains for long-distance journeys. It is because unlike trains, these buses are available
every now and then. They ply day and night between Dhaka, Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar,

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Khulna, Benapol, Rangpur, Rajshahi, and other important destinations. Passengers can
now start journey any time as they like and reach destinations at their prefered time.
This is a great facility especially for busy people. They can reach Dhaka by noon and
return at night almost from every major locations in the country. Traveling in luxury
coaches is usually very comfortable and in most cases they maintain punctuality in
departure and arrival. It is a reason why some people prefer coach services over other
modes of transportation.
Usage of high tech or air conditioned buses from the prestigious global manufacturers
started in Bangladesh during the late nineties in order to cope with the changes in the
tastes of consumers. The demand to ride on high tech vehicles or air-conditioned buses is
rising during the last couple of years due to a rise in people's purchasing capacity and
willingness to spend more than earlier. (Source: www.thedailystar.net)
While the Government kept a blind eye on the public transport sector during this period,
some brave businessmen stepped in. They saw there was a market for better service;
they saw the opportunity for doing business. Thus one by one, new buses were on the
road-Volvo, Scania and the like that provide an interior environment that is at par with
that of a business class of an airliner. Needless to say, these coach services charge higher
fares than other air-conditioned coaches, but for those who look for comfort and can
afford the fares, the luxury coaches hold irresistible attraction.
Challenges for the private entrepreneurs in the transport sector are innumerable. There
is also a stiff competition among the luxury coach operators. However, many of them are
coming up with their own strategies to overcome operational challenges and build their
competitive advantages. The managements of Green Line Paribahan Ltd, Shohagh
Paribahan Private Ltd. and Silk Line Express Ltd-three leading names in luxury coach
services that dominate the Dhaka Chittagong route face a lot of challenges, gather
experiences while doping the business and build up their own strategies. Certainly, a
substantial amount of money is required to purchase these exclusive buses. And it takes
about four years to recover the money invested for each Volvo bus. However, in case of
Scania, the recovery time may be less compared to Volvo since the former can operate 24
hrs while Volvo 18 hrs. Moreover, ticket prices of Scania are much high compared to

0
those of Volvo. For example a passenger traveling from Dhaka to Chittagong has to pay
Taka 800 for Scania while Taka 550 for Volvo. (Source: The Executive Times, January 2007)
Apart form extortion, hartal and blockade programs, there are a number of factors that
slow down the process of recovering the huge investment amount. Hino Non-AC bus
charges about Taka 300 for a Dhaka to Chittagong trip, although the cost of such a bus is
about Taka 4 million. In contrast, Scania, which involves investment four times as high,
charges only about twice the fare of a Hino non-AC bus. Moreover, the average
percentage of seats filled up on Green Line buses is around 60, although the company's
Dhaka-Chittagong and Dhaka-Sylhet buses remain mostly occupied. (Source: The
Executive Times, January 2007)
Roads carry over 80 percent of national passenger traffic, providing the backbone of the
transport sector in this country of 140 million people. Development of major
infrastructure such as the Dhaka Eastern Bypass and the Padma Bridge is important to
improve the connectivity and land use of the country. The Padma Bridge would connect
the currently isolated southwest and the eastern zones of the country. Although the road
network has been substantially expanded and improved, lack of adequate resource
allocation for maintenance threatens its sustainability. Secondly, statistics reveal that the
fatality rate is more than 100 deaths per 10,000 registered motor vehicles each year. This
is a major area of concern and needs to be addressed. (web.worldbank.org)
The response from a regular passenger to the website of The Financial Express after been
asked about these high-end bus services was:
“It is true that we have now high-class buses like Volvo and Scania, but the service is not
high-class. Please ask passengers; they will tell you the same thing. I request these companies
to pay more attention to their service”
---- Shafqat Chowdhury, Chittagong

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Chapter Five
5. Present Market Scenario
5.1. The Public Transport Industry of Bangladesh

There is no end to the quest for a better life, a life with more comfort and luxury. In a
low-income country like Bangladesh, this luxury is hard to achieve for the mass people.
The country’s infrastructure does not quite provide the public with the comfort that the
West enjoys. However, in spite of the problems existing, there have been efforts made to
introduce new products and services putting significant impacts on the public life. One
such effort has been made in the country’s public transport sector
In spite of the numerous obstructions involved in doing business in the public transport
sector of Bangladesh, there has been significant improvement in this market. With the
introduction of high-end luxury coach services between the major cities, Bangladesh’s
public transport service has now become a lucrative economic sector to invest into.
Luxury coaches from world famous brands e.g. SCANIA, VOLVO, MERCEDES-BENZ,
HINO are already on the highways providing non-stop luxury coach services. Dhaka,
Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Rangpur, Rajshahi, Sylhet, Benapol, Nilphamari, Khulna,
Jessore, etc are the cities who avail this opportunity so far. The coach operators who have
been confident and brave enough to introduce these highly priced luxury brands are the
people to be congratulated to provide the ultimate level of comfort rides to the public
transport sector. Operators in this business are namely Shohagh Paribahan, Green Line,
Soudia S. Alam, Shyamoli Paribahan, Eagle Paribahan, Silk Line, Hanif Enterprise,
Agomony Express, etc. They have looked into this prospective market segment
generating almost Billion-Dollar annual revenue in a country like Bangladesh. With the
increased competition in this sector, operators are forced to introduce higher-end
luxuries to capture their market. They have come up with buses that provide with the
sheer comfort and smoothness of the ride all the way to the destination. The wide spread
highway network has played an important role in the development of this business.

2
5.2. Recent Infrastructure Development

The market for high-end luxury buses has grown rapidly during the last decade. Factors
contributing to this boom in transport business are many. But the most important one is
the infrastructural development in terms of construction of highways and bridges on the
major routes aiding to shorter journey time and cost-effective journeys. Bridges on
mighty rivers like the Jamuna, Bhairab, Meghna along with the 4-laning of Dhaka-
Chittagong, Dhaka-Sylhet, Dhaka-Sirajgonj highways have been the key improvements
in the highway network development of Bangladesh. The recently constructed Magura-
Jessore highway has also played an important role in cutting down journey time to reach
the South-West regions resulting in an increase in passengers traveling by bus to the
south-western part as well as Benapol land port. A very similar ole has been played by
the widely talked about Bonpara-Haikumrul-Natore link road through the massive
Chalan Beel area in terms of linking a major part of the northern zone with the centre
and distant part of the country.
Apart from the above mentioned highways and bridges there are some other remarkable
projects that are expected to boost the economic growth. Such projects include
Construction of the 3rd Karnaphuli Bridge connecting the southern part of Chittagong
division including Bandarban, Cox’s Bazar and Teknaf with the rest of the country in a
more convenient way saving time and money both. The much awaited Multipurpose
Padma Bridge is also expected to have its impact on the country’s transport sector
relieving a significant amount of pressure from the existing Paturia-Daulatdia ferry
service that has been serving as the only gateway to the South-Western part of the
country.
Government of Bangladesh has been following the strategy of road network

development on the basis of 5 important corridors namely:
 Dhaka-Chittagong (Dhaka-Southeast)
 Dhaka-Sylhet (Dhaka-Northeast)
 Dhaka-Khulna (Dhaka-Southwest)
 Dhaka-Northwest
 Khulna-Northwest

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It means that if any structural development on any corridor is considered, the

development of the whole corridor including construction/replacement of the bridges
and feeder roads connected with the arterial road of the corridor has to be taken up as a
package deal instead of a part project as piece-meal. On the other hand, construction of
the Padma Bridge, Dhaka-Chittagong Expressway, and the Second Meghna and
Meghna-Gumti Bridges on Dhaka-Chittagong Highway Bhatipara-Benapole are already
taken into consideration by the Government of Bangladesh for quick project
implementation. (Source: www.rhd.gov.bd)
5.3. Market Size and Growth

As mentioned earlier, ACI’s initial target is the Dhaka-Chittagong-Cox’sBazar route that
has generated annual revenue of more than Tk 6 billion during the year 2007. According
to a recent study conducted by Rankon Motors, the sole importer of MERCEDES-BENZ
luxury coaches, the annual growth rate of the High-End luxury coach market in
Bangladesh is over 20 percent (The Financial Times, February 2008). This size and
growth of the luxury coach market has encouraged investors to take the opportunity and
there are more and more operators coming in these days. For example, Baghdad Express
and ILEN Express are the two new AC coach operators. Apart from this, both Shyamoli
Paribahan and Green Line have decided to go for massive expansion of business into
newer routes.
5.4. Service Details

Luxury coach operators in Bangladesh have bought in a revolutionary change in the
public transport industry of the country. Operating world famous coach brands in such
an effective and profitable way surely does deserve some appraisal. Most of the
operators in the industry contain Economy-Class seats in their coaches. But some highly
ambitious names e.g. Shohagh, Geenline, Silk Line, Soudia S. Alam have got coaches
with even more luxurious offerings. Executive-Class or Business-Class seats in a 1+2
configuration with personal multimedia, body massage system, full reclining seats have
added higher value to their service dimension.
Apart from providing with superior luxury, comfort and safety, the high-end coach
operators in Bangladesh do offer some peripheral services as well. It includes pick up
service from designated ticket counters in both Dhaka and Chittagong City Corporation

4
since large coaches are not allowed inside the metropolitan areas during day-time. These
operators have their pick-up points at Gabtoli, Kalyanpur, Kalabagan, Mirpur,
Fakirapul, Sayedabad, Razarbag, Malibagh areas in Dhaka City and pick-up points in
Chittagong includes Station Road, Dampara, and Bayezeed Bostami areas. They also
offer association with stop-over restaurants who are very much reputed for their on the
hospitality. Operators like Shohagh, Greenline and Soudia S. Alam offers online ticket
booking/inquiry facilities targeting the passengers’ convenience. Even with a number of
obstructions regarding the online transaction system in Bangladesh, it has successfully
attracted the attention of prospective customers. They most recent addition is the
association with reputed residential hotels in Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet and Khulna.
Using this service, any passenger can reserve hotel rooms in his/her destination city
even before staring the journey to that particular destination. Promotions like
SHOHAGH BEYOND and GREENLINE FRIENDS & FAMILY also offer booking
journey tickets even from the hotel premises even though the passengers seem to be
unaware of such customized promotions.
5.5. Luxurious Public Transport Operators

As mentioned earlier, the high-end luxury bus industry in Bangladesh has faced a boom
in recent times because of various factors. Yearly around 4.1 million passengers travel
by air conditioned luxurious buses all over the country. The demand for luxuries buses
is increasing day by day. As a result, not only the established companies are brining new
luxuries buses but also other bus syndicates are trying to establish their footprint in the
luxurious segment by bring new brands. This industry is dominated by mainly Green
Line and Shohagh Paribahan Pvt. Ltd. Other companies like Shyamoli, Silk Line, Eagle,
Neptune, Keya, Agomony, Hanif, and Holy City are also catering the market in different
routes.
Fleet of these buses includes the most luxurious models of coaches imported mostly
from Europe, which provide with the ultimate in passenger comfort and safety. An
introduction to the most popular bus services are given in the following pages. Seat
plans of different luxury coach services are included in Appendix-A.

5
Figure 5.1: Existing routes for Long-Distance Luxury AC Coach Services in Bangladesh

6
GREEN LINE PARIBAHAN
GREEN LINE Paribahan is a family owned transport company

specializing in transportation of passenger bus services since
1990. From a humble beginning of local services, its transport
system encompasses all reachable areas of Bangladesh and also
beyond the border, extending the reach to the Indian city of
Calcutta.
Green had Line introduced the 1st ever Air- Conditioned bus services in Bangladesh
back in 1990’s. Their present fleet of buses includes the most luxurious models of
VOLVO, HINO and SCANIA buses imported from Europe, which provide the ultimate
facilities in passenger comfort and safety. GREEN LINE is the only operator to have fuel
efficient and environment friendly SCANIA luxury coaches in Bangladesh.
The company at present operates more then 60 (Sixty) buses on schedule routes
employing over 230 trained staff and safely transporting over a million passengers a
year. Its VOLVO model comes with 45 seated luxury saloon interior whereas the
SCANIA model comes with 27 Gold-Class seats in a 2+1 arrangement per row. These
buses have individual body massage options along with personal multimedia and state
of the art comfort from the world famous luxury bus manufacturer MTrans Limited of
Malaysia.
Green Line has very recently imported 4 HINO RM-2 luxury coaches in fully equipped
condition to meet the customer demand for High-end luxury in the south-west region of
the country. According to GREEN LINE officials the reason for them to switch to Hino
Buses was the proven durability of such coaches on roads in the South-West region. The
peripheral facilities that GREEN LINE offers to its passengers are intercity designated

7
route service, Charter Service, Online ticket booking system, etc. Routes covered by this
operator are:
 Dhaka-Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar  Dhaka-Sylhet
 Dhaka-Jessore-Benapol  Dhaka-Jessore-Khulna
 Sylhet-Chittagong  Dhaka-Natore-Rajshahi
 Dhaka-Bogra-Rangpur  Khulna-Dhaka-Rangpur-Burimari
Source: GreenLine’s high-officials, its webpage and published newspaper articles
SOUDIA A.ALAM SERVICE
SOUDIA S.ALAM has established itself as a leading inter-city luxury coach operator in
terms of its route network and passenger retention. It operates luxury inter-city coach
routes running between the major cities in Bangladesh. Soudia S.Alam has single decker
luxury coaches both AC and Non-AC in its fleet, which are designed and built to
luxurious standards. These coaches are equipped with onboard facilities like audio-
visual entertainment, reclining seats, reading lights, luxurious Interior, etc.
"Soudia S.Alam" has two distinctive brands namely, Soudia and S.Alam. Over the past
years these two brands have played a significant role in transporting and servicing long
distance travelers (close to 2 million per annum), throughout Bangladesh and
increasingly to countries across Bangladesh borders. Very recently, SOUDIA S.ALAM
has reached it extended excellence in passenger service by introducing the first ever
MERCEDES BENZ luxury coaches on the highways of Bangladesh. This reputed
operator has a plan to launch a total of 100 units of luxurious coaches in Bangladesh.
Routes that Soudia S. Alam has targeted presently are:
 Dhaka-Chittagong-Dhaka
 Dhaka-Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar-Dhaka

8
 Dhaka-Sylhet- Dhaka
 Dhaka-Jessore-Benapol (Yet to launch)
 Dhaka-Jessore-Khulna (Yet to launch)
Source: Soudia S. Alam’s customer executives, official webpage and published newspaper articles.
SHOHAGH PARIBAHAN
Shohagh Paribahan (Pvt.) Ltd. was establishment in 1973. The

company is the Pioneer of the inter district luxury bus transport
service provider and also represents country’s one of the largest
modern, luxury Air condition & and non air condition bus
transport service provider under wide range communication
network and achieved a sustainable break through in the
transport business in Bangladesh.
The Company is operating their network at different place Chittagong and Khulna
division. The company also extends international service up to India with comfortable
luxury with most modern transport service to its customers with cheaper cost. Shohagh
Paribahan (Pvt.) Ltd. is deeply committed to fulfill its customers demand and cares
about consumers’ desire and taste.
Placing emphasis on this important aspect, Shohagh Paribahan has initiated a new edge
of business activities by establishing a solid bridge by two way traffic between the
service provider and the ultimate consumer in the present competitive business
environment. There are more than 1500 employees are working to protect valued
customer interest, safety, security, comfort and satisfaction.

9
Shohagh Paribahan comes with a fully functional online ticket booking system for its
passengers in Dhaka and Chittagong ticket counters. The online ticket server can also be
accessed from any computer system with internet connection. But the monetary
transaction has to take place in person meaning the passengers can book their ticket
online but have to confirm it going to a specified ticket counter.
Shohagh’s operating routes along with their types of service are:
1. AC Volvo Classic 2. Non AC Saloon Coach

Dhaka - Chittagong - Dhaka Dhaka - Khulna - Dhaka
Dhaka - Cox's Bazar - Dhaka Dhaka - Jessore - Benapol - Dhaka
Dhaka - Sylhet - Dhaka Dhaka - Shatkhira - Dhaka
Dhaka - Khulna - Dhaka Dhaka - Bagerhat - Dhaka
Dhaka - Jessore - Benapol – Dhaka Dhaka - B.Baria – Dhaka
Source: Shohagh Group’s official webpage and published newspaper articles
5.6. Associated Costs:

The luxury coaches used by operators in Bangladesh are made on world class coach
chassis from luxury European or Japanese brands. Very naturally they require a high
maintenance cost along with their smooth and fuel efficient engine performance.
According to the high officials of GreenLine and Shohagh Paribahan, the spare parts are
very costly and not very easily available in local market. Other than maintenance cost
and such, there are some other variable costs associated with luxury bus operation. Such
costs include Highway Bridge tolls, Fuel Costs Ferry charges, Municipal Tax while
leaving Dhaka city. Other costs are the salary of staffs (driver, helper and attendants),
Snacks offered to he passengers, etc. A brief introduction to major operating costs is
given in this section. For costing details regarding routes other than Dhaka-Chittagong-
Cox’sBazar, see Appendix-B.

0
ROUTE 1: DHK – CTG - COX’S – DHK
Operators:
 Shohagh Paribahan  Silk Line
 Green Line Paribahan  Soudia S. Alam Services
 Neptune Express
Table 5.1: Operating costs for DHK – CTG - COX’S route

Bus Scania K94 Hino
Volvo B7R Mercedes-Benz
Chassis IB4X2 RM2KSKA
Seats 45 27 30 41
750*2
Fare (Tk/Seat) 950*2 950*2 800*2
1000*21
Fuel Usage (Ltr.) 320-330 320-330 310-320 320-330
Bribe (Tk) 60 60 60 60
Tolls (Tk) 400*2 400*2 400*2 400*2
Salary of Staffs (Tk) 1100+220+500 1200+250+500 1100+250+500 1200+220+600
Snacks offered to
passengers (Tk/per 15-25 15-25 15-25 15-25
passenger/trip)
Others (Tk) 100*2 100*2 100*2 100*2
ROUTE 2: DHK – CTG – DHK
Operators: Same as Route 1
Table 5.2: Operating costs for DHK – CTG - COX’S route

Bus Chassis Volvo B7R Scania K94 IB4X2 Hino RM2KSKA
Seats 45/34 27 30
Fare (Tk/Seat) 550*2 and 700*21 750*2 700*2
Fuel Usage (Ltr.) 210-220 210-220 200-210
Bribe (Tk) 60 60 60
Tolls (Tk) 400*2+40 400*2+40 400*2+40
Salary of Staffs (Tk) 900+220+500 1000+250+500 900+250+500
Snacks offered to
passengers (Tk/per 20-35 20-35 20-35
passenger/trip)
Others (Tk) 100*2 100*2 100*2
1
: Shohagh Paribahan Exclusive seat fare with a (1+2) seat arrangement.
5.7. Technology
The most advanced luxury coach engines run by Bangladeshi operators are from the
world famous manufacturers like SCANIA, VOLVO, HINO, etc. The VOLVO B7R bus
supplied to the operators in Bangladesh has a 260hp turbocharged intercooler engine, 45
seats (Green Line, Silk Line, Hanif), air suspension on all axles, integrated air-

1
conditioning and is built on a true bus chassis. This model can run for 18 hours at a
stretch whereas the 380hp SCANIA engine can run for 24 hours in a single trip specially
designed for long distance routes.
Figure 5.2: The chassis of a Mercedes-Benz CBC 1632 coach
Again, The Mercedes-Benz CBC 1632 model run by Soudia S Alam is equipped with an
Inter-cooled OM 926 LA turbocharged engine, where the air flow area for the cooling
system is fitted with shrouds and flexible grommets for pipe fittings. Its compact
drivetrain assembly maximizes space for the body builder on this 326hp chassis.
Environment is major area of concern today the world over. All the coach engines
mentioned above to ply on Bangladeshi roads comply with internationally set emission
standards like EURO-I and EURO-II. But using better quality engine oils and genuine
spare parts are pre-requisites to maintain these standards for long. The importers of
these coaches provide with proper technical assistance in terms of spare parts, chassis
servicing, technical trainings, etc to optimize the serviceability of the chassis.
5.8. Industry SWOT Analysis

Strengths:
 Annual revenue of about Tk. 6 Billions from Dhk-Ctg-Cox’s Route alone.
 Increased acceptance of high end luxury bus services proved on recent times.
 Excellent Road network.
 World Class coach brands namely MERCEDES-BENZ, VOLVO, SCANIA, HINO,
and ISUZU are run by different coach operators making a ground for high-end
transport technologies.
Weakness:
 Increased traffic resulting in travel time between Dhaka and Chittagong.

2
 Not concerned about all-oriented needs of the passengers.

 Very little interest in forward and backward integration within the industry.
 Inconvenient ticket booking system.
 Very few operators except Shohagh Paribahan, Shyamoli Paribahan and Green
Line, have spare coaches to serve the passengers in case of emergency, therefore
causing inconvenience to the passengers.
 Unavailability of CNG run High-End buses.
 Highway risks such as accidents, dacoits, etc increasing everyday.
 Services are too standardized i.e. less choices for the passengers while traveling.
Opportunities:
 Annual market growth of about 20%.
 Development of the internal tourism industry resulting in increased business
opportunities.
 Road network quality to be further enhanced by the establishment of 3 rd
Karnaphuli Bridge to link Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar.
Threats:
 Repeated fuel price hike resulting in continuous rise in operating costs.
 Comfortable Rail transport services proposed to come into service.
 Increasing traffic volume resulting in severe congestion and poor operating
leverage.
 Poor maintenance of highways and lack of resource allocation into this sector
resulting in threatened sustainability.
 The fatality rate in Bangladeshi highways is more than 100 deaths per 10,000
registered motor vehicles each year. This is a major area of concern and needs to
be addressed.
 The Govt. planning to impose a speed limiting rule on all modes of public and
private transport which will affect the operation of fast moving road transport
system increasing the fuel consumption per trip.

3
Chapter Six
6. The Consumer Perspective
6.1. Primary Qualitative Survey

To gather the primary information about the luxury transport industry in Bangladesh, 2
types of qualitative surveys namely KII and FGD have been done (See Appendix D). 2
KIIs were done on key personnel within the industry who have been involved in
operating the high-end bus services in different important routes of Bangladesh. The
interviewees in this regard were Mr. Mohsin of Green Line Paribahan and Mr. Ekram,
Executive (Accounts) of Shohagh Paribahan Pvt. Ltd. Apart from them, staffs of leading
bus operators were also interviewed to collect further information on the operational
details of luxury coach services.
After doing the KIIs, the passengers were surveyed about their experience and feedback
considering the luxury coach services in the market. Two FGDs were done on luxury bus
passengers; 1 in Dhaka and 1 in Chittagong. After doing the 2 FGDs, there were certain
areas of concern that the quantitative survey focused on. These areas have been taken
into consideration while designing the hypotheses as well as the questionnaire for the
quantitative survey; whereas, the findings from FGDs have been used in assessing the
financial feasibility of the project (see Chapter 8).
6.2. Quantitative Survey

The survey was done on 110 sample units who have the traveling experience by luxury
AC coach services in Bangladesh. (See Appendix-E for details of sample size
determination). The survey questionnaire is enclosed in Appendix-F & Appendix-G.
Results of this quantitative survey are analyzed in the following section.
6.3. Analysis of Quantitative Survey Results

The survey was conducted on 110 passengers on a non-probability & convenience basis.
The hypotheses found from the primary survey have been tested based on the survey
data. The details of this analysis are included in the appended part of this report
(Appendix-J) Later these are considered determining the marketing strategy for ACI to
enter the luxury public transport industry. The quantitative survey reveals some facts

4
that can be considered important to ACI’s new market venture. The findings from the
survey are summarized here with necessary illustrations.
 The financially affluent passengers

have a tendency to prefer luxury
AC buses compared to the
passengers from the lower income
group (Fig. 6.1)
Figure 6 1: Comparative preference with income level of passengers
 People travel by AC coaches mostly

to have a comfortable journey (Fig.
6.2)
Figure 6.2: Reasons for traveling by luxury coaches
 More frequent travelers are more

aware of the promotional offers.
(Fig 6.3)
Figure 6.3: Awareness of promotional offers vs. the frequency of journey (monthly)

5
 Luxury bus passengers are ready to travel by new services (Fig. 6.4)
 Very few service attributes of existing operators are rates too satisfactory. (See Fig. 6.5,
Fig. 6.6, Fig. 6.7)
 Passengers are more or less indifferent regarding the pricing of tickets (Fig 6.8)
Figure 6.4: Acceptance of new luxury bus services Figure 6.5: Rating of service features 1
Figure 6.6: Rating of service features 2 Figure 6.7: Rating of service features 3

6
Figure 6.8: Consumers’ rating for pricing

strategies of existing coach operators.

7
Figure 6.9: Most preferred operator Figure 6.10: Occupation of the respondents
Figure: 6.11: Interest in online ticket booking facilities Figure: 6.11: Interest in online ticket
booking facilities
6.4. Reliability Test

The reliability test of all the interval scales has been done and the results from the
reliability test are given below.
Cronbach's Alpha Based

Cronbach's Alpha on Standardized Items N of Items
.760 .770 15
N %
Cases Valid 110 100.0
Excluded(a) 0 .0
Total 110 100.0
a Listwise deletion based on all variables in the procedure.

8
Chapter Seven
7. Proposed Marketing Mix
8. & Operating Requirements
7.1. Marketing Mix

7.1.1. The Service
Each of the coaches initially imported, will have 32 Economy Class seats in a 2+2
arrangement and 6 Business Class seats in a 2+1 arrangement. The Business Class seats
will be placed in the front side followed by the Economy Class seats. ACI has decided to
go for SCANIA and MERCEDES-BENZ chassis to build these coaches on. These coaches
will be imported from Malaysia in fully built form aiming to provide sheer comfort,
luxury and safety to the passengers. Since it has been observed throughout the survey
that passengers are not quite happy with the present level of comfort that they are being
offered, ACI needs to concentrate on this issue and therefore make sure that they can
provide with quality comfortable journeys.
7.1.2. Price
According to the passenger survey conducted, passengers are not very much willing to
pay more than the present for a more comfortable, enjoyable and safe journey. So ACI
should launch its luxury bus service with a ticket pricing parallel to the existing service
providers. The Business-Class and Economy-Class seats can be priced BDT 550 and BDT
800 for single trip to Chittagong. The Cox’s Bazar route as well will be priced in a similar
manner following the market rates.
7.1.3. Placement
ACI can aim the existing market with a high-value brand image in correspondence with
its already achieved corporate image. They should properly communicate their values
and mission to the target market initially following the existing operators and therefore
excel in its business with the long term goal kept in mind. Since the passengers are not
dissatisfied regarding the present location of ticket counters, ACI will establish its
counter in places like Kalyanpur, Kalabagan, Razarbagh area in Dhaka and Alankar

9
Morh, Dampara in Chittagong. Online ticket booking facilities can also be introduces as
interest groups have been found in this prospect through the quantitative survey.
7.1.4. Promotion
As found in the survey, target passengers are not very much aware of the promotional
offers from luxury bus operators. ACI can target this issue and work on it after
launching the service. Online ticket booking system, collaboration with famous hotels in
Dhaka, Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar will be a good approach in targeting the tourist
groups and people who travel for purposes like tours and sight-seeing. Both Above the
Line and Below the Line promotions can be carried out since there are passenger groups
interested in such media. As it has been found from the survey, newspapers and TV
commercials are the choices through which the target passenger group can be
communicated. A detailed database of passenger information needs to be maintained
since more frequent passengers are more likely to be using the promotional offers.
7.2. Target Markets

The total strategy of ACI should is group driven as well as individualistic. While using
transportation service people always depend on others’ opinion as well as their own
personal experiences. To satisfy the individuals it will always give importance to the
individual’s needs. Individuals from the upper class and upper-middle class of the
society are the prime target for Luxury coach operators to provide its transport service.
But the increased disposable income pattern these days often makes people from other
segments of the society as well to taste these high-end services. In addition to that, ACI
wants to influence the corporate groups on different occasions and therefore strengthen
its customer base. Include tourists as customers here.
7.3. Infrastructure Setup

As mentioned above, the initial number of units of coaches to be launched is 10. Even
though the number sounds really small in comparison to other service providers in the
industry, the plan will require some serious strategic planning to make it a success. A
total of 5 ticket counters and association with 2 service stations (1 in Dhaka & Chittagong
each) need to be established. All the ticket counters should be connected though internet
so that the online ticket purchasing facility can be provided as well.

0
7.4. Management and Personnel

The total number of manpower newly required for the implementation of the whole
project is 44.
Executives in the Head Office – 2 (1 in charge of operations and 1 for marketing tasks)
Counter Executives – 3*5 (3 in each counter to facilitate the ticket selling system)
Drivers -20 (2 for each unit of coach, drivers should be given a break after a return trip)
Drivers -3 (connecting shuttle service – 1 in Chittagong and 1 in Dhaka)
Technicians -4 (2 in Dhaka and 2 in Chittagong for maintenance purpose)
7.5. Business Model

The business model for ACI’s transport venture can be illustrated as below:
Figure 7.1: The proposed business model for ACI's transport venture.

1
Chapter Eight
8. Financial Feasibility
The financial feasibility of the project has been assessed on the basis of certain
assumptions regarding both the costs involved and the overall financial scenario. The
costing are estimated on the basis of information collected from primary sources
(Appendix B, Appendix C, Appendix I)
8.1. Initial Budget Planning

The total cost of the project has been estimated at Tk 200 million including a working
capital of Tk 10 million required to operate the bus service. The detail of the cost has
been shown at Appendix-I. A summary of the project costing is given here:
Account Description Amount (in BDT)

1 Coach purchase and Registration (Scania 6 units) 78,000,000
2 Coach purchase and Registration (Mercedes 4 units) 60,000,000
3 Counter Establishment 20,000,000
4 Garage Facilities 10,000,000
5 Initial Advertisement & Promotional Expenses 1,500,000
6 Shuttle Vehicles 6,000,000
7 IT Equipment 500,000
8 Furniture 1,500,000
9 Contingency 10,000,000
10 Costs During Planning Period 2,500,000
Total Fixed Cost 190000000
11 Working capital 10,000,000
Total Project cost 200,000,000

2
8.2. Mode of Financing

The required funding for the project will be sourced solely by debt financing. The cost of
fund in this case has been considered as 15% repaid in 20 equal quarterly installments in
5 years.
Item Amount (in BDT)
1 Equity Financing 0
2 Project Loan (From Banks) 200000000
3 Cost of Capital 15%
4 Planning Period 6 months
5 Amount of Loan Tk 200000000
6 Repayment Period 5 Years
7 Number of Installments 20 (Quarterly)
8.3. Expected occupancy Rate

Expected Occupancy Rate in Projected Years
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5
90% 85% 80% 85% 85%
0.90 0.85 0.80 0.85 0.85
8.4. Forecasting PBP, PI, NPV and IRR

Item Value
1. Payback Period 5.25 Years
2. Net Present Value (@ 14% discount rate) BDT 17641021
3. Profitability Index 1.09
4. Internal Rate of Return 16%
8.5. Sensitivity of the Analysis

The total cost of the project has been estimated at Tk 200 million @ 14% interest rate. If the rate is
increased to 15%, the project still holds an NPV of BDT 3216730. Again the occupancy rate was
considered by ACI might be little optimistic in this case.

3
Chapter Nine
Conclusion
The expanding and promising luxury transport market has attracted entrepreneurs
throughout time. The primary and secondary market study also indicate that the market
has been growing at an attractive rate with the increased economic affluence and
disposable income of the target customer group. This has been further aided by the
boom of internal tourism in Bangladesh as well. But facts like the high fatality rate in
highway accidents and repairing of highways and bridges do make the journey lengthier
and therefore create dissatisfaction among the passengers. Apart from that, the
development of railway system and proposed luxury train services can be considered
potential threats to this industry. But considering the experienced and highly
professional management structure of ACI Limited, they are expecting more of an
optimistic occupancy rate when the launch their luxury bus service. Considering the
financial aspects as well, the project was found viable. Again, effective promotional
activities need to be carried out to maintain the occupancy rate as per projection.

4
REFERENCE
Bangladesh: Quarterly Economic Update, The Asian Development Bank,
http://www.adb.org
Banglapedia, http://www.banglapedia.org/ht/r_0213.htm
Green Line Paribahan, http://www.greenlineparibahan.com
Shohagh Paribahan Private Limited, http://www.shohagh.com
Soudia S. Alam Service, http://www.soudiasalam.com
The World Bank,

http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAE
XT/EXTSARREGTOPTRANSPORT/0,,contentmdk:20674801~menupk:868784~p
agepk:34004173~pipk:34003707~thesitepk:579598,00.html
The Executive Times,

http://www.exectimes.com/content/jan07/con07.asp
The Daily Star,

http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=23053
The Financial Express,

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/search_index.php?
page=detail_news&news_id=23545
The Roads and Highways Department, Ministry of Communications, Bangladesh,

http://www.rhd.gov.bd
Wikipedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/feasibility_study

5
APPENDIX

6
APPENDIX A: Seating Arrangement of Different Models of Luxury Coaches

7
APPENDIX B: Costing Details for Different Luxury Bus Routes in Bangladesh
ROUTE 3: DHK- SYLH – DHK
Operators:
 Shohagh Paribahan
 Green Line Paribahan
 Mamun Special Service
Bus Chassis Volvo B7R Scania K94 IB4X2 Hino RM2KSKA

Seats 45/34 1
40 30
Fare (Tk/Seat) 450*2 and 675*21 450*2 500*2
Fuel Usage (Ltr.) 210-220 210-220 200-210
Bribe (Tk) 60 60 60
Tolls (Tk) 400*2+40 400*2+40 400*2+40
Salary of Staffs 1000+ 1200+ 1000+
(Tk) 220+500 250+500 220+450
Others (Tk) 100*2 100*2 100*2
ROUTE 4: DHK – BENAPOL – DHAKA
Operators:
 Shohagh Paribahan
 Green Line Paribahan
 Eagle Paribahan
Bus
Volvo B7R Hino RM2KSKA
Chassis
Seats 45 30
Fare (Tk/Seat) 525*2 and 750*21 550*2
Fuel Usage (Ltr.) 250-260 250-260
Bribe (Tk) 100 100
Tolls (Tk) 1600*2+40 1600*2+40
Salary of Staffs (Tk) 1100+220+500 1000+250+500
Others (Tk) 100*2 100*2
1: Shohagh Paribahan Exclusive seat fare with a (1+2) format.

8
APPENDIX C: Purchase Price & Monthly Maintenance Expenditure of Luxury

Coaches
Seating capacity
Chassis Model Importer/
Normal Exclusive Unit Price
Manufacturer
(2+2) (1+2) (Tk)
(Shohagh) 28 6 12,000,000 Volvo Motors

Volvo B7R
(GreenLine) 45 n/a 12,000,000 India
Scania K94 (Normal) 40 n/a 13,000,000 M.Trans

(GreenLine) (Exclusive) n/a 27 13,000,000 Malaysia
Navana
Hino RM2KSKA n/a 31 12,000,000
Limited
Rancon
Mercedes-Benz 41 n/a 15,000,000
Motors Ltd.
Coach Type Seating Capacity Cost/Month (BDT) Drivability

(continuous)
Mercedes-Benz 41 200,000-250,000 18 hours
SCANIA K94 IB4X2 27 or 44 Same as above 24 hours
Volvo B7R 45 or 39 Same as above 14 hours
HINO RM-2 33 or 44 250,000 18 hours

9
APPENDIX-D: Details of Primary Qualitative Survey
KII-1
This was a KII conducted on Mr. Mohsin of Green Line Paribahan. He was asked about different
operational and financial aspects of luxury AC bus services in Bangladesh. His feedback included
all sorts of information such as market size and growth, infrastructural and legal obstruction,
price of luxury coaches and the operating costs, target market groups, pricing of tickets, prospect
for new entrants, their future expansion plans etc. The questions that were asked to the
respondent were focused on two major routes namely Dhaka-Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar and Dhaka-
Sylhet where Green Line is doing a very good business. Findings from this survey included:
 Luxury coach market has become more competitive in recent times
 The market size is about BDT 6 billion with an annual growth rate of about 15-20%
 The amount of operational and maintenance expenditure for different models of
imported luxury coaches namely Scania, Volvo and Hino that are operated by
GREENLINE.
 HINO coaches are better performers in rough roads copared to the sophisticated brands
like VOLVO and SCANIA.
KII-2
The was second KII done on Mr. Ikram, Executive (Accounts) of Shohagh Paribahan Pvt.
Ltd. He was asked bout the different operational and financial aspects of the business
and the industry as a whole. As Shohagh has been stronger in terms of their marketing
strategies, the relevant costs were also an issue discussed in this KII.
FGDs
Two FGDs were done on luxury coach passengers in Dhaka and Chittagong to assess
the performance of existing luxury bus operators and therefore to get as idea of the
satisfaction level for passengers. FGD-1 which was done in Dhaka had 8 participants
whereas in Chittagong, number of participants was 8. The results from these FGDs have
been used while designing the quantitative survey questionnaire.

0
APPENDIX E: Sample Size Determination for Quantitative Survey
Considering Time:
Time Available: 14 days x 2 hrs/day = 1680 Minutes
Time required for each sample = 15 minutes
Therefore the sample size = 1680/15 = 112
Considering the cost:

Availble Budget = Tk 1500
Cost per respondent= Tk 8
Therefore the sample size = 1500/8 = 188
The final sample size in 112 since it is the lower of the two.

1
APPENDIX F : Survey Questionnaire (English)
Survey on Luxury Bus Passengers
Dear respondent, I’m a student of IBA, University of Dhaka. This questionnaire is a part of my internship
project work intended to find out the market scenario of luxury bus services in Bangladesh.
Information/opinion provided here by you will not be used for any other purpose under any circumstance.
Section One: Consumer Response
Put a tick (√) mark for your answer until otherwise specified
For official
use only
1. Do you always travel by AC coaches if available?
YES NO
2. What are the deciding factors for choosing an AC bus?

Route Distance Cost Comfort
Safety Timely departure Others
3. How frequently do you travel by AC coaches?
Less than 3 times a month 3-5 times a month

6-10 times a month More than 10 times a month
4. Rank the following bus operators according to your preference?

(Rank your most favorite operator as 1 and least preferred as 6)
Name of Operator Rank Name of Operator Rank

GreenLine Paribahan Shyamoli Paribahan
Neptune Express Silk Line Express
Shohagh Paribahan Soudia S.Alam Service
5. How did you first get to know about your favorite operator?
Newspaper TV Commercial Friends and Family
Billboards Random Attention Online Advertisement
Others (please specify) _____
6. Have you tried to book tickets online or used such facilities?

(Available for Shohagh, GreenLine & Soudia S. Alam only)
Yes No Sounds Interesting No Idea
7. What is your usual purpose of traveling by AC coach?

Family tour Official tour Sight-Seeing
Business Purpose Others ____

2
For official
8. Do you try newly launched bus services sometimes? use only
Yes No
9. Rate your most favorite bus service in terms of the following features.
(Please put a tick mark for your answer based on the following scale:
-2=very poor, -1=poor, 0=average, +1=good and +2=very good)
-2 -1 0 +1 +2
Location & number of ticket counters 10.
Waiting room for passengers Do
Pick-up facilities you
Timely departure
Seating comfort
Interior features (noise, cleanliness)
Quality of AC system
Multimedia facilities
Flexibility in trips per day
Drivers’ competency
On the journey catering (snacks & such)
Stop-over restaurant facility
Hospitality of the attendants
think ticket prices are fairly charged with respect to the services provided?
(Please put a tick mark for your answer based on the following scale:-2=Very Unfair,
-1=Unfair, 0=no comments, +1=Fair and +2=Very Fair)
-2 -1 0 +1 +2
 Economy Class
 Business Class
11. Are you aware of recent promotional offers from luxury bus operators, such as Shohagh Beyond or
GreenLine Friends & Family?
Yes No

3
Section Two: Consumer Demographics
For official use

only
12. Your age:
Below 20yrs 20-30yrs 30-40yrs
40-50yrs Above 50yrs
13. Sex: Male Female
14. Marital Status

Single Married
15. Occupation
Student Service Holder Business
Others (Please Specify) ___
16. Monthly household income

Below Tk 30,000 Tk 30,000-50000
50,000-75000 Tk 75,000-100,000
Above Tk100,000
17. Your Name: ………………………………………………………………………….
18. Contact Number/Address: …………………………………………………………………
THANKS FOR YOUR KIND PARTICIPATION

4
APPENDIX G: Survey Questionnaire (Bengali)
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¢el¡fš¡ Bl¡j AeÉÆ¡eÉ
3. Bf¢e fË¢aj¡p Lah¡l ïjZ Lle ?

3 h¡l Hl Lj 3-5 h¡l
6-10 h¡l 10 h¡l Hl J h¢n
4. ¢eQl p¡¢iÑp…m¡L Bfe¡l fR¾c Ae¤k¡u£ ¢p¢lu¡m ¢ce

(phQu h¢n fR¾cl p¡¢iÑpL 1 Hhw phQu Lj fR¾cl¢VL
6 ¢p¢lu¡m ¢ce)
¢NËem¡Ce f¢lhqe .............. nÉ¡jm£ f
¢lhqe ..............
efQ¥e p¡¢ip. ................ ¢póm¡Ce H„-
fËp ..............
p¡q¡N f¢lhqe .............. p±¢cu¡ Hp
Bmj ..............
5. Bf¢e fËbj ¢Li¡h/L¡b¡u Bfe¡l fR¾cl p¡¢iÑp pÇfLÑ Se-

Re ?
pwh¡cfœ ¢V¢i ¢h‘¡fe hå¥ J f
¢lh¡l pcpÉ
¢hmh¡XÑ qV¡v Q¡M fs¡ C¾V¡leV
AeÉÆ¡eÉ.
6. Bf¢e ¢L LMe¡ C¾V¡leV ¢VLV ¢Lea Qù¡ LlRe ?

qÉ¡ e¡
7. Bf¢e H¢p h¡p pQl¡Ql Le ïjZ Lle ?

5
f¡¢lh¡¢lL ïjZ A¢g¢nu¡m L¡S °ep¢NÑL ÙÛ¡e cnÑe

hÉhp¡¢uL L¡S AeÉÆ¡eÉ L¡lZ......................
öd¤j¡œ A
¢g¢nu¡m
hÉhq¡l Hl
SeÉ
8. Bf¢e ¢L ea¥e h¡p p¡¢iÑp Hm a¡a ïjZ Lle?
qÉ¡ e¡
9. Bfe¡l phQu h¢n fR¾cl p¡¢iÑpl ¢eQl °h¢nù…m¡ L

j¤mÉ¡ue Ll¦e
(M¤h i¡m¡ Hl SeÉ +2 Hhw M¤h M¡l¡f Hl SeÉ -2 f¡-
n ¢VL (√) j¡LÑ ¢ce)
+ +
-2 -1 0
1 2
¢VLV L¡E¾V¡l (AhÙÛ¡e J
pwMÉ¡)
k¡œ£cl Ju¢Vw l¦j
¢j¢eh¡p p¤¤¢hd¡
pjuja k¡œ¡ öl¦
Bl¡jc¡uL ¢pV
h¡p Hl iall AhÙÛ¡
H¢p ¢pØVj Hl j¡e
j¡¢ÒV¢j¢Xu¡ p¤¤¢hd¡
kL¡e pju k¡œ¡l p¤¤k¡N
Q¡mLl j¡e
k¡œ¡fb BeÉ¡eÉ p¤¤¢hd¡
¢hl¢aL¡m£e lØV¥l¾V Hl j¡e
HVeX¾Vcl B¢abua¡
10. -
ph¡l a¥me¡u ¢VLV Hl c¡j Lje je Lle Bf¢e?
(M¤h i¡m¡ Hl SeÉ +2 Hhw M¤h M¡l¡f Hl SeÉ -2 H
¢VL (√) j¡LÑ ¢ce)
-2 -1 0 +1 +2
CL¡e¢j LÓ¡p
¢hSep LÓ¡p

6
11. Bf¢e ¢L p¡q¡N, ¢póm¡Ce Hhw ¢NËem¡Ce Hl haÑj¡e fËj¡ne…m¡l

hÉ¡f¡l H ¢LR¥ S¡ee?
qÉ¡ e¡
Section Two: Consumer Demographics

öd¤j¡œ A
¢g¢nu¡m
hÉhq¡l Hl
12. Bfe¡l hup? SeÉ
20hRll ¢eQ 20-30hRl 30-40hRl
40-50hRl 50 hRll Jfl
13. Bf¢e f¤l¦o/j¢qm¡?

f¤l¦o j¢qm¡
14. Bfe¡l °hh¡¢qL AhÙÛ¡?

¢hh¡¢qa A¢hh¡¢qa
15. Bfe¡l fn¡ ¢L?

R¡œ Q¡L¥¢lS£¢h hÉhp¡
AeÉÆ¡eÉ.........
16. Bfe¡l f¢lh¡l H j¡¢pL Bu La?

30000 V¡L¡l ¢eQ 30000-50000 V¡L¡
50000-75000 V¡L¡ 75000-100000V¡L¡

100000 V¡L¡l Jfl
17. Bfe¡l
e¡j:............................................................................................
.................
18. k¡N¡k¡Nl ¢WL¡e¡:

…………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………

7
Bfe¡l pqk¡¢Na¡l SeÉ deÉh¡c

8
APPENDIX H: Questionnaire Coding Manual

No Field Description Field Name Codes/Remarks
1 Respondent Code ResCode Respondent serial number
2 Always AC Bus Always.AC.Bus 1=Always, 2=No
3 Deciding Factor-Route Distance Route.Factor 1=Yes, 2=No
4 Deciding Factor-Cost Cost.Factor 1=Yes, 2=No
5 Deciding Factor-Comfot Comfort.Factor 1=Yes, 2=No
6 Deciding Factor-Safety Safety.Factor 1=Yes, 2=No
Deciding Factor-Timely
7 Timely.Factor 1=Yes, 2=No
Depature
8 Deciding Factor-Others Other.Factor 1=Yes, 2=No
1=less than 3, 2= 3 to 5 times,
9 Frequency of journey frequency 3=6 to 10 times, 4=more than 10
times
1=First, 2=Second, 3=Third,
10 Ranking for GreenLine Green.Rank
4=Fourth, 5=Fifth, 6=Sixth
11 Rank for Neptune Neptune.Rank
12 Rank for Shohagh Shohagh.Rank
13 Rank for Shyamoli Shyamoli.Rank
14 Rank for Silk Line Silk.Rank
15 Rank for Soudia S Alam S.Alam.Rank
1=Newspaper, 2=TV
16
Commercial, 3=FnF,
Source of Information Information.Source 4=Billboard, 5=Random
Attention, 6=Online Ad,
7=Others
1=Yes, 2=No, 3=Sounds
17 Attempt Online Facilities Online.Ticket
Interesting, 4=No Idea
18 Purpose-Family Tour Purpose.Family.Tour 1=Yes, 2=No
19 Purpose-Official Purpose.Official 1=Yes, 2=No
20 Purpose-Sight Seeing Purpose.SightSeeing 1=Yes, 2=No
21 Purpose-Business Purpose.Business 1=Yes, 2=No
22 Purpose-Others Purpose.Others 1=Yes, 2=No
23 Test New Services Test.New.Service 1=Yes, 2=No
1=Very Poor, 2=Poor,
Rating Location & Number of
24 TouchPoint 3=Average, 4=Good,
Ticket Counters
5=Very Good
25 Rating Waiting Rooms WaitingRoom 3=Average, 4=Good,
5=Very Good
26 Rating Pickup Facilities PickupFacility 3=Average, 4=Good,
5=Very Good
27 Rating Timely Departure TimelyDepart 3=Average, 4=Good,
5=Very Good

9
No Field Description Field Name Codes/Remarks

28 Rating Comfort Comfort 3=Average, 4=Good,
5=Very Good
29 Rating Interior Interior 3=Average, 4=Good,
5=Very Good
30 Rating AC System AC.Quality 3=Average, 4=Good,
5=Very Good
31 Rating Multimedia Multimedia 3=Average, 4=Good,
5=Very Good
32 Rating Flexibility in Trips/Day TimingFlex 3=Average, 4=Good,
5=Very Good
33 Rating Driving Capability Driving 3=Average, 4=Good,
5=Very Good
34 Rating Snacks & Drinks Snacks.Food 3=Average, 4=Good,
5=Very Good
35 Rating Stop-Over Restaurant Restaurant 3=Average, 4=Good,
5=Very Good
36 Rating Hospitality Hospitality 3=Average, 4=Good,
5=Very Good
1=Very Unfair, 2=Unfair, 3=No
37 Pricing of Economy Class Price.Economy
Comments, 4=Fair, 5=Very Fair
1=Very Unfair, 2=Unfair, 3=No
38 Pricing of Business Class Price.Business
Comments, 4=Fair, 5=Very Fair
Knowledge of Recent
39 Recent.Promotion 1=Yes, 2=No
Promotions
1=Below 20 yrs, 2=20 to 30 yrs,
40 Respondent Age Resp.Age 3=30 to 40 yrs, 4=40 to 50 yrs,
5=Above 50 yrs
41 Respondent Sex Resp.Sex 1=Male, 2=Female
1=Single, 2=Married,
42 Respondent Marital Stat Resp.Marital.Stat
3=Widowed, 4=Seperated
1=Student, ,2=Service Holder,
43 Respondent Occupation Resp.Occupation
3=Business, 4=Others
1=Below 30,000, 2=30,000-
50,000, 3=50,000-75,000,
44 Respondent Income (Monthly) Resp.Income
4=75,000-100,000, 5=Above
100,000

0
APPENDIX I: Details of Project Costing and Financial Feasibility Analysis
1. Considerations Behind Budget Planning

 Scania coach (6 units) will be imported from Malaysia; each unit costing BDT
13million in fully built form.
 Mercedes Benz (coach 4) units will be imported from Malaysia; each unit costing
BDT 15million in fully built form.
 Counters in Kalyanpur, Kalabagan, Razarbagh area In Dhaka and for Chittagong,
the locations are Alankar Morh and Dampara.
 Two garage facilities are to be established in Dhaka and Chittagong.
 Three minibuses for pick-up and shuttle facilities will be purchased.
 This cost of IT instruments includes the cost of a database server and individual
terminals in all of the 5 ticket counters.
 The financial analysis has been done keeping only Dhaka-Chitagong route in
mind.
 The depreciation of coach is considered @ 10% annual rate.
 Depreciation rate for buildings, machinery, furniture and equipment are
considered @ 5%
2. Explanation of Cost Estimation:
Monthly Salary Expense Calculation Number of Amount per Category

Employees Person (BDT) total (BDT)
Description
Head Office Executives
2 25,000 50,000
(Marketing + Operations +Accounts)
Counter Executives (Managers) 2 20,000 40,000
Counter Executives (2 in each counters) 10 10,000 100,000
Drivers (Pick-up minibus) 3 10,000 30,000
Total Monthly Salary 220,000

1
3. Operating Costs (per round trip between DHK & CTG):

Item Unit Description Total (in BDT)
Fuel Cost 210 Liters 10,500
Bribe Offered to law enforcement and local bodies 50
Bridge Tolls 2 way tolls at Meghna-Gomtee Bridge 800
Coach Staffs Salary Tk 1100 for Driver 1800
(Applicable only Tk 500 for Attendant
for tips run) Tk 200 for Helper
Snacks offered to Includes mineral water and such @ tk20 per 20 * Occupancy
passengers passenger rate
Operation of Per counter operating cost including electricity bills 5000
counters and others
Maintenance Cost for Coach maintenance @ tk 220,000/unit 2,200,000
4. Payback Period Calculation

Year Cash from operating activities (BDT) Cumulative Amount (BDT)
0 -200000000 -200000000
1 37787304 -162212696
2 32170788 -130041908
3 29605696 -100436213
4 41382175 -59054038
5 47030374 -12023664
6 50940800 38917136
7 50940800 89857936
8 50940800 140798736
9 50940800 191739536
10 50940800 242680336
Initial Investment 200000000
5. Loan Amortization Schedule:

Installment Opening Loan Principal Interest Closing Loan
Total
Number Amount payment payment Amount
1 200000000 7072215 7000000 14072215 192927785
2 192927785 7319743 6752472 14072215 185608042
3 185608042 7575934 6496281 14072215 178032109
4 178032109 7841091 6231124 14072215 170191018
5 170191018 8115529 5956686 14072215 162075488
6 162075488 8399573 5672642 14072215 153675915
7 153675915 8693558 5378657 14072215 144982358
8 144982358 8997832 5074383 14072215 135984525
9 135984525 9312757 4759458 14072215 126671768
10 126671768 9638703 4433512 14072215 117033065
11 117033065 9976058 4096157 14072215 107057008
12 107057008 10325220 3746995 14072215 96731788
13 96731788 10686602 3385613 14072215 86045185
14 86045185 11060634 3011581 14072215 74984552
15 74984552 11447756 2624459 14072215 63536796
16 63536796 11848427 2223788 14072215 51688369
17 51688369 12263122 1809093 14072215 39425247
18 39425247 12692331 1379884 14072215 26732916
19 26732916 13136563 935652 14072215 13596353
20 13596353 13596343 475872 14072215 10

2
6. Projected Income Statement:

Items Year-1 Year-2 Year-3 Year-4 Year-5 Year-6 Year-7 Year-8 Year-9 Year-10
Net Sales 145152000 137088000 129024000137088000137088000 137088000 137088000137088000 137088000 137088000
Operating Cost 74640000 74640000 74640000 74640000 74640000 74640000 74640000 74640000 74640000 74640000
Gross Margin 70512000 62448000 54384000 62448000 62448000 62448000 62448000 62448000 62448000 62448000
Admin, Selling
& Salaries
expenses 2400000 2400000 2400000 2400000 2400000 2400000 2400000 2400000 2400000 2400000
Profit Before
Interest & Tax 68112000 60048000 51984000 60048000 60048000 60048000 60048000 60048000 60048000 60048000
Interst
Expenses 26479878 22082367 17036123 11245441 4600501 * * * * *
Profit Before
Tax 41632122 37965633 34947877 48802559 55447499 60048000 60048000 60048000 60048000 60048000
Taxaton 6244818 5694845 5242182 7320384 8317125 9007200 9007200 9007200 9007200 9007200
Profit After tax 35387304 32270788 29705696 41482175 47130374 51040800 51040800 51040800 51040800 51040800
Profit Margin 0.24 0.24 0.23 0.30 0.34 0.37 0.37 0.37 0.37 0.37
*As the project loan will be repaid in 5 years, there’s no interest or capital repayment
expense in following years
7. Projected Cash Flow Statement:
Year-1 Year-2 Year-3 Year-4 Year-5 Year-6 Year-7 Year-8 Year-9 Year-10
Cash Flows From Operating Activities:

Cash Reciepts
145152000 136988000 128924000 136988000 136988000 136988000 136988000 136988000 136988000 136988000
from Sales
For Operating
74640000 77040000 77040000 77040000 77040000 77040000 77040000 77040000 77040000 77040000
Expenses
For Interest
26479878 22082367 17036123 11245441 4600501 0 0 0 0 0
Payment
For Income Taxes 6244818 5694845 5242182 7320384 8317125 9007200 9007200 9007200 9007200 9007200
Net Cash
Provided By
37787303 32170787 29605695 41382174 47030374 50940800 50940800 50940800 50940800 50940800
Operating
Activities
Cash Flows from Financing Activities:

Repayment of
29808982 34206493 39252737 45043419 51688359 0 0 0 0 0
Project Loan
Net Cash Flows
from Financing 29808982 34206493 39252737 45043419 51688359 0 0 0 0 0
Activities
Net
Increase/decrease 7978322 -2035705 -9647042 -3661244 -4657985 50940800 50940800 50940800 50940800 50940800
in Cash
Beginning Cash 0 7978322 5942617 -3704425 -7365669 -12023653 38917147 89857946.51 140798747 191739547
Closing Cash
7978322 5942617 -3704425 -7365669 -12023653 38917147 89857947 140798746.51 191739547 242680347

3
APPENDIX J: Details of hypotheses developed from qualitative study and related data
from consumer survey for hypothesis testing and other interpretation.
Deciding Factor- Deciding Deciding Deciding Factor-

Route Distance Factor-Comfot Factor-Safety Timely Depature
N (Valid) 110 110 110 110
Mode 1 1 2 2
Std. Deviation .502 .372 .427 .313
Variance .252 .138 .182 .098
Skewness .037 1.844 -1.258 -2.543
Std. Error of Skewness .230 .230 .230 .230
Kurtosis -2.036 1.425 -.425 4.547
Std. Error of Kurtosis .457 .457 .457 .457
H 1: The financially affluent passengers always prefer to travel by Luxury buses.
Type of hypothesis: Descriptive Independent Variable: Financial Affluence

Case: Luxury bus passengers
Status: Accepted considering the tendency of the income group of above Tk 30,000 per month.
Always AC Bus * Respondent Income (Monthly) Cross-tabulation

Respondent Income (Monthly in BDT)
30,000- 50,000- 75,000- above
below 30,000 50,000 75,000 100,000 100,000 Total
Always AC Yes 8 29 20 11 6 74
Bus No 13 15 5 2 1 36
Total 21 44 25 13 7 110
H 2: The length of journey (distance) is a factor considered for the selection of transport mode.
Type of hypothesis: Relational Case: Luxury bus passengers

Independent Variable: Route Distance Dependent Variable: Selection of Transport Mode
Status: Accepted since majority of the respondents have given their opinion in its favor.
Deciding Factor-Route Distance

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Valid Yes 56 50.9 50.9 50.9
No 54 49.1 49.1 100.0
H 3: The level of comfort is a factor to be considered for the selection of transport mode
Type of hypothesis: Relational Dependent Variable: Selection of Transport Mode

Independent Variable: Level of Comfort Case: Luxury bus passengers
Status: Accepted, because the frequency distribution shows that comfort is the strongest factor of all.
Deciding Factor-Comfort
Valid Yes 92 83.6 83.6 83.6
No 18 16.4 16.4 100.0
H 4: The on the journey safety determines the selection of transport mode
Type of hypothesis: Relational Independent Variable: On the journey safety

Dependent Variable: Selection of Transport Mode Case: Luxury bus passengers
Status: Not Accepted
Deciding Factor-Safety
Valid Yes 26 23.6 23.6 23.6
No 84 76.4 76.4 100.0

4

5
H 5: The timeliness of operators determines the selection of transport mode
Type of hypothesis: Relational Independent Variable: On the journey safety

Dependent Variable: Selection of Transport Mode Case: Luxury bus passengers
Deciding Factor-Timely Depature

Valid Yes 12 10.9 10.9 10.9
No 98 89.1 89.1 100.0
H 6: More frequent travelers are aware of the promotional offers from luxury bus operators
Type of hypothesis: Relational Independent Variable: Frequency of journey

Dependent Variable: Awareness about promotional offers Case: Luxury bus passengers
Knowledge of Recent Promotions * frequency of journey Cross-tabulation

frequency of journey
less than 3 3-5 times 6-10 times more than 10 Total
Knowledge of Yes 18 6 4 3 31
Recent No
Promotions 58 16 2 3 79
H 7: Luxury bus travelers often travel by newly launched bus services
Type of hypothesis: Descriptive Independent Variable: Desire to try new bus Services
Status: Accepted, since the data below shows that no matter how frequently the travelers move, the always
intend to try new coach services
Test New Services * frequency of journey Cross-tabulation

Frequency of journey
less than 3 3-5 times 6-10 times more than 10 Total
Test New Yes 60 19 6 4 89
Services No 16 3 0 2 21
Descriptive Statistics (for H-8 to H-20)
Name of the Variable Mean Std Skewness Kurtosis Z-Value Z-Value

Rating Location & Number of
3.85 .997 -1.040 1.183 1.64 0.85255767
Ticket Counters
Rating Waiting Rooms 3.72 .920 -.558 .215 1.64 0.7826087
Rating Pickup Facilities 3.59 1.025 -.666 .574 1.64 0.57560976
Rating Timely Departure 4.05 1.003 -1.277 1.570 1.64 1.04685942
Rating Comfort 4.35 .658 -.725 .383 1.64 2.05167173
Rating Interior 4.05 .907 -1.236 1.756 1.64 1.15766262
Rating AC System 4.06 .870 -.720 .328 1.64 1.2183908
Rating Multimedia 3.42 .971 -.194 1.64 0.43254377
Rating Flexibility in Trips/Day 3.51 1.020 -.790 .860 1.64 0.5
Rating Driving Capability 3.85 .756 -.382 .026 1.64 1.12433862
Rating Snacks & Drinks 3.08 1.118 -.364 -.297 1.64 0.07155635
Rating Stop-Over Restaurant 3.66 .901 -.657 .708 1.64 0.73251942
Rating Hospitality 3.72 .890 -.287 -.595 1.64 0.80898876
Pricing of Economy Class 3.01 1.105 -.101 -1.121 1.64 0.00904977
Pricing of Business Class 2.87 1.166 -.278 -1.179 1.64 -0.11149228

6
H 8: Luxury bus travelers are satisfied with the location & number of ticket counters available
Type of hypothesis: Descriptive Case: Luxury bus passengers

Independent Variable: Location & number of ticket counters
Status: Accepted
Rating Location & Number of Ticket Counters

Frequency Percent Cumulative Percent
Valid Very Poor 5 4.5 4.5
Poor 4 3.6 8.2
Average 22 20.0 28.2
Good 51 46.4 74.5
Very Good 28 25.5 100.0
H 9: Passengers are satisfied with the waiting room facilities provided by existing operators
Type of hypothesis: Descriptive Independent Variable: waiting room facilities

Status: Accepted
Rating Waiting Rooms

Valid Very Poor 2 1.8 1.8 1.8
Poor 8 7.3 7.3 9.1
Average 30 27.3 27.3 36.4
Good 49 44.5 44.5 80.9
Very Good 21 19.1 19.1 100.0
H 10: Passengers are satisfied with the Pick-up facilities provided by existing operators
Type of hypothesis: Descriptive Independent Variable: Pick-up facilities

Status: Accepted
Rating Pickup Facilities

Valid 0 1 .9 .9 .9
Very Poor 2 1.8 1.8 2.7
Poor 12 10.9 10.9 13.6
Average 31 28.2 28.2 41.8
Good 44 40.0 40.0 81.8
Very Good 20 18.2 18.2 100.0
H 11: Passengers are satisfied with the timeliness maintained by luxury coach operators
Type of hypothesis: Descriptive Independent Variable: Timeliness of departure

Status: Accepted
Rating Timely Departure

Poor 5 4.5 4.5 8.2
Average 13 11.8 11.8 20.0
Good 47 42.7 42.7 62.7
Very Good 41 37.3 37.3 100.0

7
H 12: Passengers are satisfied with the seating comfort from luxury coaches
Type of hypothesis: Descriptive Independent Variable: Seating Comfort
Rating Comfort
Valid Poor 1 .9 .9 .9
Average 8 7.3 7.3 8.2
Good 52 47.3 47.3 55.5
Very Good 49 44.5 44.5 100.0
H 13: Passengers are satisfied with the interiors (noise, cleanliness) maintained in luxury coaches
Type of hypothesis: Descriptive Independent Variable: Quality of interiors

Case: Luxury bus passengers (noise, cleanliness)
Status: Accepted
Rating Interior
Poor 7 6.4 6.4 8.2
Average 9 8.2 8.2 16.4
Good 57 51.8 51.8 68.2
Very Good 35 31.8 31.8 100.0
H 14: Passengers are satisfied with quality of AC system maintained in luxury coaches.
Type of hypothesis: Descriptive Independent Variable: Quality of AC system

Status: Accepted
Rating AC System
Valid Very Poor 1 .9 .9 .9
Poor 3 2.7 2.7 3.6
Average 23 20.9 20.9 24.5
Good 44 40.0 40.0 64.5
Very Good 39 35.5 35.5 100.0
H 15: Passengers are satisfied with quality of Multimedia facilities provided in luxury coaches.
Type of hypothesis: Descriptive Independent Variable: Multimedia facilities
Status: Accepted
Rating Multimedia
Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Poor 14 12.7 12.7 15.5
Average 42 38.2 38.2 53.6
Good 36 32.7 32.7 86.4
Very Good 15 13.6 13.6 100.0

8
H 16: Passengers are satisfied with Flexibility (trips per day) provided by coach operators .
Type of hypothesis: Descriptive Independent Variable: Flexibility in timing
Status: Accepted
Rating Flexibility in Trips/Day

Valid 0 1 .9 .9 .9
Very Poor 4 3.6 3.6 4.5
Poor 10 9.1 9.1 13.6
Average 33 30.0 30.0 43.6
Good 47 42.7 42.7 86.4
Very Good 15 13.6 13.6 100.0
H 17: Passengers are satisfied with the competency of luxury coach drivers.
Type of hypothesis: Descriptive Independent Variable: Competency of Drivers
Status: Accepted
Rating Driving Capability

Valid Poor 5 4.5 4.5 4.5
Average 26 23.6 23.6 28.2
Good 60 54.5 54.5 82.7
Very Good 19 17.3 17.3 100.0
H 18: Passengers are satisfied with the quality of catering (snacks & such) of luxury coach services.
Type of hypothesis: Descriptive Independent Variable: Catering Quality
Status: Accepted
Rating Snacks & Drinks

Poor 19 17.3 17.3 27.3
Average 38 34.5 34.5 61.8
Good 33 30.0 30.0 91.8
Very Good 9 8.2 8.2 100.0
H 19: Passengers are satisfied with the quality Stop-over restaurants.

Type of hypothesis: Descriptive Independent Variable: Restaurant quality
Status: Accepted
Rating Stop-Over Restaurant

Poor 6 5.5 5.5 8.2
Average 33 30.0 30.0 38.2
Good 51 46.4 46.4 84.5
Very Good 17 15.5 15.5 100.0

9
H 20: Passengers are happy with the Hospitality of the attendants during the journey.
Type of hypothesis: Descriptive Independent Variable: Restaurant quality
Status: Accepted
Rating Hospitality
Valid Poor 11 10.0 10.0 10.0
Average 30 27.3 27.3 37.3
Good 48 43.6 43.6 80.9
Very Good 21 19.1 19.1 100.0
H 21: Younger passengers are interested in online ticket-booking facilities

Type of hypothesis: Descriptive Independent Variable: Gender of passengers
Case: Young Passengers
Status: Accepted
Respondent Income (Monthly) * Attempt Online Facilities Crosstabulation

Attempt Online Facilities
Sounds
Count Yes No Interesting No Idea Total
Respondent below 30,000 1 10 10 0 21
Income 30,000-50,000 9 7 23 5 44
(Monthly) 50,000-75,000 9 3 11 2 25
75,000-100,000 3 3 7 0 13
above 100,000 2 5 0 0 7
Total 24 28 51 7 110
H 22: Multimedia facilities are more important to younger passenger

Case: Young Passengers
Status: Accepted
Respondent Age * Rating Multimedia Cross-tabulation

Rating Multimedia
Very
Very Poor Poor Average Good Good Total
Respondent below 20 yrs 0 0 1 0 0 1
Age 20-30 yrs 1 9 29 27 8 74
30-40 1 2 12 7 5 27
40-50 yrs 1 3 0 1 2 7
above 50 yrs 0 0 0 1 0 1
Total 3 14 42 36 15 110

0
H 23: Passengers are happy/satisfied with the price they are charged
Status: Accepted
Statistics
Pricing of Economy Class Pricing of Business Class
N (Valid) 110 110
Mean 3.01 2.87
Mode 4 4
Std. Deviation 1.105 1.166
Skewness -.101 -.278
Kurtosis -1.121 -1.179
Range 4 4
Z- score 0.01 -0.11
Pricing of Economy Class
Valid Very Unfair 8 7.3 7.3 7.3
Unfair 36 32.7 32.7 40.0
No Comments 19 17.3 17.3 57.3
Fair 41 37.3 37.3 94.5
Very Fair 6 5.5 5.5 100.0
Pricing of Business Class

Valid Very Unfair 18 16.4 16.4 16.4
Unfair 25 22.7 22.7 39.1
No Comments 23 20.9 20.9 60.0
Fair 41 37.3 37.3 97.3
Very Fair 3 2.7 2.7 100.0
H 24: Promotional offers are effectively communicated to the passengers

Knowledge of Recent Promotions

Valid Yes 31 28.2 28.2 28.2
No 79 71.8 71.8 100.0
Total 110 100.0 100.0
Ranking Statistics
Rank- Rank-
Green Rank- Rank- Rank- Rank-Silk Soudia S
Line Neptune Shohagh Shyamoli Line Alam
N Valid 107 100 107 102 106 104
Missing 3 10 3 8 4 6
Mean 2.05 4.69 3.46 3.70 2.54 4.12
Std. Deviation 1.216 1.339 1.798 1.640 1.266 1.522
Variance 1.479 1.792 3.232 2.689 1.603 2.317
Skewness 1.192 -1.062 .070 -.171 .416 -.451
Std. Error of Skewness .234 .241 .234 .239 .235 .237
Kurtosis 1.045 .736 -1.381 -1.064 -.691 -.706
Std. Error of Kurtosis .463 .478 .463 .474 .465 .469

1
Respondent Income (Monthly)

Valid below 30,000 21 19.1 19.1 19.1
30,000-50,000 44 40.0 40.0 59.1
50,000-75,000 25 22.7 22.7 81.8
75,000-100,000 13 11.8 11.8 93.6
above 100,000 7 6.4 6.4 100.0
Respondent Occupation
Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Valid Student 20 18.2 18.2 18.2
Service
66 60.0 60.0 78.2
Holder
Business 17 15.5 15.5 93.6
Others 7 6.4 6.4 100.0
Attempt Online Facilities * Respondent Age Crosstabulation

Respondent Age
below 20 20-30 40-50 above 50
yrs yrs 30-40 yrs yrs Total
Attempt Yes 0 12 8 4 0 24
Online No 0 21 7 0 0 28
Facilities Sounds
1 36 11 2 1 51
Interesting
No Idea 0 5 1 1 0 7
Total 1 74 27 7 1 110
Source of Information regarding the favorite operator

Valid Newspaper 11 10.0 10.0 10.0
TV Commercial 18 16.4 16.4 26.4
FnF 50 45.5 45.5 71.8
Billboard 1 .9 .9 72.7
Random Attention 20 18.2 18.2 90.9
Online Ad 6 5.5 5.5 96.4
Others 4 3.6 3.6 100.0
Results From Factor Analysis

Initial Extraction
Rating Location & Number of Ticket Counters 1.000 .635
Rating Waiting Rooms 1.000 .699
Rating Pickup Facilities 1.000 .586
Rating Timely Departure 1.000 .785
Rating Comfort 1.000 .700
Rating Interior 1.000 .750
Rating AC System 1.000 .632
Rating Multimedia 1.000 .530
Rating Flexibility in Trips/Day 1.000 .666
Rating Driving Capability 1.000 .568
Rating Snacks & Drinks 1.000 .661
Rating Stop-Over Restaurant 1.000 .543
Rating Hospitality 1.000 .460
Pricing of Economy Class 1.000 .788
Pricing of Business Class 1.000 .787
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.

2
Component Matrix(a)
Component
1 2 3 4 5
Rating Location & Number
.491 -.090 .317 .326 -.424
of Ticket Counters
Rating Waiting Rooms .375 -.425 .045 .333 .515
Rating Pickup Facilities .535 -.340 .232 .235 .272
Rating Timely Departure .707 -.333 -.109 .398 -.060
Rating Comfort .745 .063 -.303 .069 -.212
Rating Interior .687 .188 -.401 .097 -.268
Rating AC System .676 .079 -.385 -.144 -.007
Rating Multimedia .587 -.061 -.168 -.294 .258
Rating Flexibility in
Trips/Day .398 -.261 .567 -.300 -.165
Rating Driving Capability .335 -.094 -.171 -.614 .201
Rating Snacks & Drinks .516 .194 .338 -.416 .265
Rating Stop-Over
Restaurant .225 .220 .656 .089 -.082
Rating Hospitality .466 .253 .299 -.227 -.193
Pricing of Economy Class .139 .602 .120 .368 .506
Pricing of Business Class
.251 .839 -.024 .138 .024
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.

a 5 components extracted.

3

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Feasibility Study for Launching Luxury Intercity Coach Service

1.1. Origin of the Report

1.2. Objectives of the report

1.2.1. Broad Objective

Internship Report -ACI Limited 1

1.2.2. Specific Objectives

1.3. Scope of the Study

Internship Report -ACI Limited 2

Primary Qualitative Research

Sampling Frame and Method

1.5. Sources of Information

Internship Report -ACI Limited 3

1.6. Limitations of the Study

Internship Report -ACI Limited 4

1.7. ACI Limited and its History

Internship Report -ACI Limited 5

1.8. Company Mission and Vision

1.9. Company Values

Internship Report -ACI Limited 6

1.10. Corporate Management of ACI

1.10.2. Executive Management

1.11. Functional Departments of ACI

1.11.1. Core Functional Departments

1.11.2. Support Functional Departments

Internship Report -ACI Limited 7

Figure 1: Management Structure of ACI Limited

Internship Report -ACI Limited 8

1.12. Strategic Business Units (SBU)

In 2004, ACI Pharmaceuticals was ranked 11th in the Bangladesh Pharmaceuticals

Internship Report -ACI Limited 9

1.12.1. Healthcare Division

1.12.2. Consumer Brands Division

Internship Report -ACI Limited 1

The detailed profile of ACI’s consumer product range is given here.

Home Care Products

Internship Report -ACI Limited 1

Air Care Products

Internship Report -ACI Limited 1

1.12.3. Joint Venture Brands

Internship Report -ACI Limited 1

Dabur Vatika Hair Oil.

1.12.4. International Alliances

Personal Care: NIVEA

Hair Care: Godrej

Low Calorie Sweetener: Merisant

Internship Report -ACI Limited 1

1.12.5. Agribusiness Division

Internship Report -ACI Limited 1

1.13. Subsidiaries and Associated Companies

 ACI Salt Limited

Some other subsidiaries and companies associated to ACI are:

Internship Report -ACI Limited 1

1.14. Distribution Network of ACI

The company’s distribution centers are highly streamlined, computerized and

1.15. Financials of ACI

1.16. Manufacturing Standards

Internship Report -ACI Limited 1

1.17. Market Diversifications by ACI

1.18. Quality Policy

Internship Report -ACI Limited 1

1.19. Environmental Policy

In pursuit of this goal, ACI will

1.20. Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) Policy