Abstract New geochronological and geochemical data from bedded porcellanitic tuffs present within two sedimentary basins at the eastern fringe of the Archaean Bastar Craton, eastern India (the Ampani and Khariar basins) are presented and compared with data available from tuffaceous beds present within adjoining basins. U–Th–total Pb electron probe microanalysis data of monazite grains from the Ampani tuff revealed several age data clusters: c. 2400, c. 2130, c. 1600, c. 1450 and c. 1000 Ma. An age of 1446±21 Ma is proposed as the depositional/crystallization age for the Ampani tuff, considering its maximum probability. Comparable ages for the tuffaceous units from the Khariar (1455±47 Ma) and Singhora ( c. 1500 Ma) basins allow us to infer a major felsic volcanic event during c. 1450 Ma at the eastern margin of the Indian Craton. Detailed geochemical data suggest rhyolite to andesite character for the siliceous tuff units from three geographically separated basins and point towards the presence of an active volcanic arc in a subduction-related setting in the region. The geochronological and geochemical data prompted us to search for other contemporaneous events in the Indian continent and beyond, that is, within its erstwhile neighbours in the Precambrian supercontinent ‘Columbia’.