Abhinav Lohan of Faridabad and Delhi's Shamim Khan are in tied second place with total scores of seven-under-133 at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club course in suburban Chembur.
Two other Delhi golfers, Vinod Kumar and Rashid Khan, are in tied fourth position with totals of six-under-134 each.
Kolkata's SSP Chowrasia and Jamshedpur-based amateur Karan Taunk share sixth place at five-under-135.
Sixty professionals and one amateur made the cut at three-over-143.
Gupta (65-66), the overnight joint leader, began the second round from the 10th hole. He dropped a bogey on the 15th after five consecutive pars and then made a comeback with birdies on the 16th, 17th and 18th.
The Chandigarh professional then picked up a birdie on the fourth with a good chip-putt. His second bogey of the day that came on the sixth was followed by birdies on the seventh and eighth where he rolled it in from 10 to 12 feet.
"My effort in the first two rounds has given me a great launch-pad for the final two rounds. I was struggling with the short putts on the first-nine today but managed to turn it around on the second-nine where I holed a lot of putts," he said afterwards.
"I missed four greens today and some crucial chip-putts as well. I need to find more greens in the next two rounds in order to improve my chances. Nonetheless, this is a good position to be in at the halfway stage." (More)
