The seasoned campaigner's four-under-68 at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC) placed him a shot ahead of Rolex Rankings leader, Rashid Khan of Delhi, Manav Jaini, another Delhi golfer, and Md Zamal Hossain Mollah of Bangladesh.
Mukesh suffered an early setback when his tee shot on the first hole landed out of bounds and resulted in a bogey.
However, he got back to level-par with a birdie on the par-5 fourth hole after narrowly missing an eagle putt from 15 feet.
The 47-year-old, who is currently fourth on the PGTI's Rolex Rankings, raised the tempo by landing his approach shot within a couple of inches of the pin for birdie on the eighth.
Mukesh then sank a 10-footer to pick up another stroke on the ninth and make the turn at two-under.
The Mhow-based professional carried on the good work on the back-nine sinking a 15-feet birdie putt on the 12th and followed that up with an eight feet conversion for his fifth birdie of the day on the 13th.
"I had a poor start today. I was quite surprised with my opening tee shot which landed out of bounds. I didn't expect it to go there. Thereafter, my first task was to get back to even-par after setting up a good birdie opportunity on the fourth.
"My solid hitting from the fourth hole onwards helped my confidence. I was consistent from there on," said Mukesh, who has previously won twice at the RCGC. MORE
