Mumbai, Sep 23 (IANS) India's cash-strapped national carrier Air India Wednesday decided to cut productivity linked incentives (PLI) of employees by 25 to 50 percent.

The decision was taken at a board meeting of the carrier here, an Air India spokesman said.

The cut, effective from the August salary, will be applicable to over 7,000 officers, including top management personnel in various management disciplines.

The cut will be 25 percent for those getting incentives of Rs.10,000 per month or less, and 50 percent for those receiving PLI or flying related allowances of Rs.200,000 or more per month.

The cut for those receiving incentives of Rs.10,001-25,000, Rs.25,001-50,000 and Rs.50,001-200,000 will be 35, 40 and 45 percent respectively.

The move follows the Air India board's decision to accept the recommendation of a committee headed by Anup Srivastava, director-personnel, which was constituted recently to review PLI paid to employees.

The latest move is part of a series of cost-cutting measures initiated by Air India in the past few months intended to tackle the financial crunch gripping the carrier.

The airline's current debt is about Rs.16,500 crore with losses standing at Rs.7,200 crore in 2008-09.