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                                                                    EXHIBIT 99.1

PAUL DONOVAN JOINS SYNTEL BOARD OF DIRECTORS

TROY, Mich. - March 17, 2006 - Syntel, Inc. today announced that Paul Donovan,
former Executive Vice President and CIO of ING Americas, has joined the
Company's Board of Directors.

"Paul will be a tremendous asset to our Board of Directors. His deep business
and technology expertise, combined with his dual perspective from both the
client and service provider sides, will bring a lot of value as we continue with
our investments and growth," said Bharat Desai, Syntel's Chairman and CEO. "We
are all looking forward to working closely with him."

"Syntel has a strong model and business plan with a solid reputation among
Global 2000 companies," said Donovan. "It is a fascinating time for this
industry and the Company is in a dynamic growth phase. I am looking forward to
being a part of it and making a contribution to the Company's future success."

Mr. Donovan is a senior executive with more than 30 years of experience in
global information technology, corporate strategy and management, customer
service, and professional services. A leader in business improvement through
information technology, he has a strong track record as a change agent.

Mr. Donovan most recently served as Executive Vice President and CIO for ING
Americas where he merged technology and infrastructures of several companies
into one large financial services company. Prior to that, he held several CIO
and executive positions at Fidelity Investments and led a consulting practice at
Coopers and Lybrand. Early in his career, he was founder and principal for a
software and services company, Advanced Information Management Inc.

Mr. Donovan has delivered addresses at several technology and financial services
forums and led seminars at the undergraduate and graduate level. He received the
Insurance and Technology Elite 2002 award and was recognized by the CIO Forum as
one of the top Financial Services IT Executives, 2001-2003.

He holds a Bachelor's in Business Administration from University of
Massachusetts and is a former U.S. Army officer.

ABOUT SYNTEL

Syntel (NASDAQ: SYNT) is a leading global provider of custom outsourcing
solutions in a broad spectrum of information technology and information
technology-enabled services. The Company's vertical practices support the

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entire Design-Build-Operate-Optimize lifecycle of systems and processes for
corporations in the Financial Services, Insurance, Retail, Health Care and
Automotive industries. The first US-based firm to launch a Global Delivery
Service to drive speed-to-market and quality advantages for its customers,
Syntel now leverages this efficient model for the majority of its Global 2000
customers. Recently named one of Forbes Magazine's "Best 200 Small Companies in
America," Syntel has 6,093 employees worldwide, is assessed at Level 5 of the
SEI's CMMI, BS 7799-2:2002 as well as ISO 9001:2000 certified. To learn more,
visit us at: www.syntelinc.com.

SAFE HARBOR PROVISION

This news release includes forward-looking statements, including with respect to
the future level of business for Syntel, Inc. These statements are necessarily
subject to risk and uncertainty. Actual results could differ materially from
those projected in these forward-looking statements as a result of certain risk
factors set forth in the Company's Annual Form 10-K document dated March 14,
2006. Factors that could cause results to differ materially from those set forth
above include general trends and developments in the information technology
industry, which is subject to rapid technological changes, and the Company's
concentration of sales in a relatively small number of large customers, as well
as intense competition in the information technology industry, which the Company
believes will increase.