Two years after the government opened the prepaid gas metre market to the private competition, none has been able to enter the fray due to lack of enough preparation.  The government’s policy, announced in 2019, initially got enthusiastic response.  Many local and foreign companies came forward to enter the lucrative market with import, development, manufacturing, marketing and supply of smart prepaid gas metre for consumers.  Read:Erratic gas supply hits hard residents at Demra, neighbouring areas None of these companies has so far succeeded in their ventures. Officials at the state-owned Petrobangla, responsible for setting the standard and technical specifications for the metres, said they are still hopeful about the arrival of the private sector. “Already a good number of companies made demonstrations of their metres and those were enthusiastic. We hope they will be able to meet our standard and technical specifications and finally come to the market”, said Habib Uddin Ahmed, general manager (engineering), and head of the technical committee of the Petrobangla. Read  HC rules on govt decision to not provide new household gas connections He, however, said it takes some time to meet our compliances as the things are new and such ventures involve huge investment. Many of the companies are studying the market first and then they will either move for importing metres or setting up plants to manufacture locally. So they need time for their preparation, he added. Sources said local Beximco and Bangladesh Smart Electrical Company Ltd., a joint venture of West Zone Power Distribution company and Chinese firm Hexing Electrical Co. Ltd, are among those showing interest in the business.  Read No cash or gas to run from Ida: ‘We can’t afford to leave’ They said the Energy and Mineral Resources Division under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources took up the move for opening smart prepaid metre market for private sector in 2019. After a long discussion with the stakeholders, it published a gazette notification on December 4 in 2019 setting a detailed standard, technical specifications and compliances for the smart pre-paid metres. It also invited private companies to come to the market with their own devices by taking approval from the Petrobangla. Read:Titas Gas seeks foreign funding for installing 1.25 million prepaid metres in Dhaka city