Winner of four Asian Tour events on this course, Randhawa shot an bogey-free round and carded eagles twice over the last five holes - including the 18th - to take a two-stroke lead over Richard Finch and Damien McGrane, who shared the second spot on five-under par 67.
One stroke behind them were Thomas Bjorn, Jose Manuel Lara and local star Shiv Kapur with four-under par 68.
The US$2.5 million (1.71 million) Indian Masters marked the arrival of European Tour in India.
The opening day saw world No. 4 Ernie Els struggle to a three-over par 75 that placed him in the tied 77nd spot. Experiencing a harrowing time, Els took nine shots on his par-five ninth - the course's 18th - as he twice went into the bushes and took penalty drops on both occasions.
``Nine strokes on the 18th don't surprise me, I've seen bigger numbers than that,'' said Kapur, a regular on the European Tour who holds this course's record of 10-under 62.
``If you take the bunkers out, you tempt people to go with their driver. That's when you find the bushes and you find the trouble,'' said Kapur.
Bjorn said players now rarely play courses like this.
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