<p>The Dharwar Craton in India, as one of the oldest cratons in the world, preserves key information of early continental crust evolution. However, a ~ 3.0 Ga tectono-thermal event was previously recognized only in the Western Dharwar Craton, and the coeval tectono-thermal event has been rarely reported in the Central Dharwar Block. In this study, zircon U–Pb dating of the gabbroic diorite xenolith from Neoarchean Closepet batholith yields an age of 2995 ± 13&#xa0;Ma, confirming the ~ 3.0 Ga magmatism in the Central Dharwar Block. The gabbroic diorite is characterized by low SiO₂ (52.62%–53.42%) and high MgO (5.38%–5.42%), Cr (48–70) × 10^–6, and Ni (115–124) × 10^–6, with relative enrichment in LILEs and LREE and depletion in HFSEs as well as negative Nd (<i>ε</i>_Nd(<i>t</i>) =  − 4.8 to − 4.5) and Hf (<i>ε</i>_Hf(<i>t</i>) =  − 6.64 to − 2.36) isotopes, indicating an enriched mantle source. Furthermore, geochemical signatures of zircon, clinopyroxene, and hornblende indicate that this magmatism occurred in an environment with water enrichment and high oxygen fugacity, similar to the island-arc setting, suggesting that the gabbroic diorite was produced by partial melting of enriched mantle source under a subduction zone. Additionally, the mafic magmatism in the Dharwar Craton evidently decreased from 3.2 to 3.0&#xa0;Ga, accompanied by a transition of crustal components from Na-rich to K-rich, implying that a significant tectonic regime shift had already happened in the Dharwar Craton around ~ 3.0&#xa0;Ga. Considering the enriched isotopic composition of the gabbroic diorite and previous studies on the Dharwar Craton from 3.2 to 3.0&#xa0;Ga, it suggests that the Dharwar Craton might have undergone a vertical-to-lateral tectonic transition beginning at ~ 3.2&#xa0;Ga and lasting until ~ 3.0&#xa0;Ga, and the subduction related to the plate tectonic probably started in a specific scale.</p>