The Manali industrial region is located in the northern part of Chennai city, Tamil Nadu, South India, and accommodates several companies that produce fertilizers, petrochemical materials, oil refinery products, automobile components, and electric power. The effluents generated by the industries, excess withdrawal of groundwater and conformity to the coast create a severe hazard to the groundwater environs by constructing it unhealthy for human ingesting. Consequently, an endeavor has been undertaken in the study area to evaluate the quality of groundwater with its geochemical implications. Groundwater representing shallow aquifers was collected and analysed for trace elements. The findings indicate that elevated electrical conductivity (21,200 mg/l) and salinity (12,500 mg/l) were recorded in the south-eastern regions of the research area dominated by urban and industrial developments. The concentrations of Al, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Zn, Cu, Ni, Pb, As, Se, Mo, Cd, and Ba ions were quantified using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS Agilent 7700X). The reported minimum and maximum concentrations of heavy metals in groundwater were 0.07 µg/L and 9037 µg/L, respectively. Heavy metals, such as cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn), are utilized to compute the heavy metal pollution index (HPI). The metal concentration displayed a predominant sequence of Zn > Cu > Cr > Cd > Pb, correspondingly. The computed heavy metal pollution index (HPI) values in the research area span from 32.53 to 1423.75, with a mean index of 156.79. The HPI values based on mean concentration were determined to be 156.79, significantly exceeding the critical pollution index threshold of 100.Majority of the groundwater sample locations (68%) exceed the critical contamination value and exceed the critical contamination value, and the remaining 32% of the samples are only below the critical index value. The regional distribution maps of heavy metals and HPI values indicate that the southwestern and central-eastern regions, particularly the Manali and Ennore areas, exhibit significant groundwater contamination with these metals.