The spacecraft, called Mangalyaan, now embarks on a 10-month journey around the sun before reaching Mars in September next year, the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.
"The spacecraft is on course to encounter Mars after a 10-month journey around the sun," ISRO said in a statement.
"Following the completion of the latest manoeuvre, the Earth orbiting phase of the spacecraft has ended," it said.
But Mangalyaan, which is travelling at a speed of 32 kilometres per second, could still face hurdles before India joins an elite club of countries to have reached Mars.
India has never before attempted to travel to Mars and more than half of all missions to the planet have ended in failure, including China's in 2011 and Japan's in 2003.
So far, only the United States, European Space Agency and Russia have been able to send their probes to Mars.
NASA launched its unmanned MAVEN spacecraft toward Mars on Nov.18 to study the Red Planet's atmosphere for clues as to why Earth's neighbour lost its warmth and water over time.
India's Mangalyaan blasted off on Nov.5 and is using an unusual "slingshot" method for interplanetary journeys. Lacking enough rocket to blast directly out of Earth's atmosphere and gravitational pull, it was orbiting the Earth until the end of November while building up enough velocity to break free.
ISRO chairman K. Radhakrishnan hailed Sunday's successful operation to slingshot out of Earth's orbit as a "major step" forward in India's low-cost space programme.
"(It is) a turning point for us, as India will foray into the vast interplanetary space for the first time with an indigenous spacecraft to demonstrate our technological capabilities," Radhakrishnan told AFP.
Agence France-Presse
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