The Central Board of the State Bank of India (SBI), the largest public sector lender, at its meeting today, has approved to reduce the face value of equity shares of the bank from Rs 10 a share to Rs 1 a share and to increase the number of issued shares in proportion thereof.

Speaking on the development, Arundhati Bhattacharya, chairman of State Bank of India said," The decision to split stock will enhance broader investor participation specifically retail participation and increase in demand will enhance P/E Ratio."

Shares of the bank declined Rs 68.55, or 2.68%, to settle at Rs 2,487.40. The total volume of shares traded was 303,088 at the BSE (Wednesday).