New Delhi, March 5 :     The government has raised the annual turnover criterion for 'deemed public companies' to Rs 25 crore from Rs 10 crore. The move will make a number of private companies that are currently treated as deemed public limited eligible for exemptions from several regulatory requirements. In a notification issued on February 23, the government has amended the Companies Act 1956 to facilitate such a measure. Earlier, under section 43 A of the Companies Act, a private limited company would become a deemed public limited company if its average turnover exceeded Rs 10 crore. The decision to raise the bar was reportedly taken in view of the inflationary trends. Under sub-sections of Section 43A, a private company can be termed deemed public company if 25 per cent of its share capital is held by one or more bodies corporate, or if the private company holds more than 25 per cent of the share capital of a public limited company. A private company can also become a public limited company if it has accepted public deposits after the enactment of the Companies Act 1988. By raising the limit, the government has conceded a long-standing demand of industry which has been fretting over the strict norms stipulated for public limited companies. Firms must specify sums owed to SSIs The department of company affairs (DCA) has made it obligatory for companies to disclose in their balance sheets the amounts they owe to small-scale units in excess of Rs 1 lakh and which have been outstanding for over 30 days. The DCA notice was issued in this respect on February 22 amending schedule IV of the Companies Act, 1956. Schedule IV prescribes the format of the balance sheet and profit and loss account to be prepared by companies annually. This has been done on the basis of recommendations of the expert committee headed by Dr Abid Hussain, an official release said here today.