Irfan Pathan hit a career-best 83 and new captain Rahul Dravid stroked an unbeaten 85 off 63 balls to lift India to 350-6 from 50 overs in perfect batting conditions at the Vidarbha Cricket Association ground.
Sri Lanka managed only 198 in reply as off-spinner Harbhajan Singh grabbed three wickets in his first three overs and super-sub Murali Kartik polished off the tail with his left-arm spin.
Kumar Sangakkara's 43 was the top score for Sri Lanka, who were struggling at 126-8 before Chaminda Vaas (37 not out) and super-sub Dilhara Lokuhettige (29) delayed the inevitable.
Tendulkar, the world's most successful limited-overs batsman, showed no signs of the tennis elbow injury that kept him away from the game for six months as he plundered nine boundaries and two sixes.
The 32-year-old, playing his first international match since the April 17 one-dayer against Pakistan in New Delhi, did not look back after taking two consecutive boundaries in seamer Farveez Maharoof's opening over.
The second match in the series will be played under lights in the northern town of Mohali on Friday.
SCOREBOARD
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India
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V. Sehwag c Sangakkara b Vaas 20
S. Tendulkar c Sangakkara b Maharoof 93
Irfan Pathan c Jayawardena b Dilshan 83
Y. Singh lbw b Dilshan 14
R. Dravid not out 85
M. Dhoni c Jayawardena b Fernando 38
A. Agarkar run out 1
J. Yadav not out 3
Extras: (lb5, w4, nb4) 13
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Total: (for six wickets) 350
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Fall of wickets: 1-41, 2-205, 3-207, 4-247, 5-316, 6-319
Bowling: Vaas 9-0-67-1, Maharoof 10-0-82-1, Fernando 10-0-66-1, Muralitharan 10-0-49-0, Dilshan 6-0-40-2, Chandana 5-0-41-0
Overs: 50
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Sri Lanka:
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S. Jayasuriya c Dravid b Harbhajan 27
M. Atapattu b Pathan 1
K. Sangakkara c and b Sehwag 43
U. Chandana st Dhoni b Harbhajan 3
M. Jayawardena b Kartik 17
R. Arnold b Harbhajan 0
T. Dilshan b Kartik 23
F. Maharoof st Dhoni b Kartik 2
C. Vaas not out 37
D. Lokuhettige b Sreesanth 29
M. Muralitharan c Kartik b Sreesanth 6
Extras: (lb2, w6, nb2) 10
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Total 198
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Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-74, 3-76, 4-88, 5-88, 6-118, 7-121, 8-126, 9-189
Bowling: Pathan 5-0-34-1, Sreesanth 5.4-0-39-2, Agarkar 3-0-20-0, Harbhajan 10-0-35-3, Sehwag 3-1-20-1, Kartik 9-0-48-3
Overs: 35.4
Super subs: Murali Kartik (IND) replaced Venugopal Rao; Dilhara Lokuhettige (SRI) replaced Dilhara Fernando
Toss: India
Umpires: Billy Bowden (NZL) and Krishna Hariharan (IND)
TV umpire: Ivaturi Shivram (IND)
Match referee: Alan Hurst (AUS)
India won by 152 runs, lead seven-match series 1-0
Second match in Mohali on Friday.