After bowling England out for 353 on Day 2, India were off to a decent start despite losing skipper Rohit Sharma early on.
Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal struck a magnificent 73, building an 81-run partnership with Shubman Gill, who departed for a 65-ball 38.
From there, India's hopes of survival got bleaker as England got to work.
Shoaib Bashir continued with his onslaught, removing Rajat Patidar and Ravindra Jadeja in quick successions.
In a matter of 10 overs, India were wobbling at 131/4 at Tea. The loss of Yashasvi Jaiswal soon after struck the biggest blow to the hosts who were running out of options.
Sarfaraz Khan could barely make a paltry 14 before being sent back by Tom Hartley followed by veteran Ravichandran Ashwin.
In the final session of the day, it was Kuldeep Yadav and Dhruv Jurel who provided India with much-needed support.
Jurel's 30 coupled with Yadav's snail-paced 17 took India to 219/7 at Stumps.
Rohit & Co. still trail the visitors by 134 runs with just 3 wickets in hand.