India, Oct. 13 -- State Bank of India wants a third of its total employees to be women by the end of this decade, a top official has said, as the country's largest lender looks to boost gender diversity among its ranks.

"If we talk about frontline staff, women are almost 33%, but if you see as a total, they account for 27% of the workforce," Kishore Kumar Poludasu, the deputy managing director (humand resources) and chief development officer of the public sector bank, told Press Trust of India in an interview. "We will be working towards improving this percentage, so that the diversity gets further improved."

SBI has a staff strength of more than 2.4 lakh-the highest in Indian banking.

According to Poludasu, SBI is committed to creatin...