Blaming successive governments for the country's failure to attain a 'developed' status, Infosys chairman NR Narayana Murthy on Saturday said that the government should exist all economic activities in a phased manner and hand over the developmental initiatives to the private sector.

Citing the example of a government-controlled industry like sugar, he said the raw material prices have made exports unviable with operating profit last year falling by 18 per cent and net loss reaching Rs 95 crore (Rs 950 million).

On the other hand, in Delhi's power sector where private companies have recently taken over the distribution job, load-shedding has reduced by 15.9 per cent and consumption has increased.

All developmental activities for the common man -- education, healthcare, shelter and food distribution -- should be handled by reputed private sector institutions, Murthy said.

"We have failed because of a lack of management talent in the government."    

Analysing the performance of India across various sectors, he said at the current growth rate, India would take 18 years to reach the level of Indonesia and China and 35 years to reach Thailand's level in terms of GDP per capita.

Improper development of infrastructure, inordinate delays in implementing government initiatives, rampant corruption has created a drag on our growth, he said.