India. The second largest population in the world. The world’s fastest growing economy. A reformist Government that has placed investment in infrastructure at the top of its priorities. The level of activity is frenetic. No wonder I get a real buzz every time I visit this vibrant and welcoming country.

Colleagues have estimated that more than £1 trillion will be invested in infrastructure in India over the next 5 years, whilst McKinsey say that the growing population, and increasing urbanisation, means a city the size of Chicago needs to built every year from now until 2030. Power generation needs to expand from the current 330GW to 800GW by 2032, even allowing for efficiencies in production.

I was in Mumbai with colleagues and clients this week. With a population estimated at over 12 million, it is the 10th biggest city in the world, and another 15 million live in the adjacent region. With an average living space of just 4.5 square metres per person, it is also one of the most densely populated places in the world. So unsurprisingly moving around the city can be slow. The existing Mumbai Suburban Railway, which runs at street level, and Metro Line 1, which is elevated, are hugely overcrowded. The streets are jammed with cars, and the buses get stuck in the traffic. On a normal day speeds through the city can be glacial. On Friday a political rally brought the Western Express Highway to a complete standstill.

I thought the trend in corporations was towards consolidation of offices, but KPMG India has taken a deliberate policy of operating from multiple offices across the city, simply because the commuting time would be too great if everyone had to try to get downtown.

Like Melbourne, Mumbai has decided that the only solution left to ease the gridlock is an underground railway. Mumbai Metro Line 3 was approved in principle in 2012, and construction is now underway, a fact which was quite evident all over the city, which is awash with the official green and blue hoardings both advertising and protecting the worksites. The line runs from the airport south through the heart of the city to its most southern tip. As I walked past the Churchgate station site on Friday evening, a pile driver was busily at work, operating under floodlights.

It is a significant project. 33.5km in length. 27 stations, of which 26 are underground. 17 tunnel boring machines will eventually be working simultaneously 20-25 metres under the streets of Mumbai. The work is being carried out under EPC contracts, with 7 separate contracts for the tunnelling and stations let to a diverse range of contractors. The total expected cost is Rs 23,136 crore, about $3.5billion. So less than a fifth of the cost of Crossrail in London for a route a third longer in tunnelling. The rolling stock is under procurement. Opening is scheduled for 2021 when up to 24 trains per hour will be able to operate on the highest density section. And it will adopt the most modern standards in operation, with platform-edge doors, driverless trains and contactless payment.

You would think Mumbai citizens would be happy about an investment which offers to bring significant improvement to life in the city, but as so often with major infrastructure projects, it is not that straightforward. Future gain is today’s pain. The city is so densely developed that there was never going to be any empty space in which to locate the worksites, and build the station entrances. The project team has done its best to create linear worksites along the edge of roads, but inevitably the project was going to affect properties and parks. A particular focus of public challenge was the number of trees that needed to be felled, even though the contractors are obliged to plant 3 new trees for every one, and the project had to defend its plans in the Bombay High Court.

But that is all background. My reason for focussing on Mumbai Metro Line 3 this week, is because I was so impressed at the way the project has been developed. Having been involved in mega-project development for most of my career, as soon as you start learning about one you mentally start ticking off in your head whether what you are hearing sounds like best practise or disaster-in-the-making. And believe me there are plenty of the latter, alas, often in some of the worlds supposedly most advanced countries.

First governance, because in my view that is above all what makes or breaks the chances of a project being able to succeed despite all the unexpected challenges it will inevitably face. Mumbai Metro Line 3 is being taken forward by Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd which is a special purpose project company, whose shareholding is divided between the Government of India and the Government of Maharashtra. Each has an equal number of shareholders on the Board of Directors, and there are two independent directors. KPMG’s report on Crossrail governance, as part of Crossrail’s admirable Learning Legacy project, highlighted how joint ownership can benefit a project, because it reduces the chance of a single project shareholder demanding erratic and unfunded changes in scope. Tick.

Second, team calibre. It is evident to me that the team knows what it is doing. They took the time to learn from other projects. They appointed respected advisors (Aecom). They have the benefit of the disciplines expected of the project by its partial funder, the Japan International Cooperation Agency which has provided a soft loan worth around $2billion for the project. Tick.

Third, following from the above, funding. Mega projects burn through money at a pace and the one way to guarantee delays and wasted cost is to hit a hiatus in funding availability. Good projects have their funding completely sorted, on the basis of robust geotechnical and other due diligence, with appropriate contingency, and clear delegation to the project company to spend the funding to deliver the scope. Tick.

Fourth, land acquisition well managed and well in advance of need. I will spare the blushes of a particular mega project elsewhere in the world which contrived to let the construction contracts before the land was fully acquired. It is a schoolchild error but it happens all too often. But not in Mumbai, where the land acquisition is largely complete. Tick

Fifth, transparency. There is a wealth of information on the project on its website including all the tender documents, full disclosure on funding and ownership and regular updates on progress of works. There is an active social and print media outreach. No major project will ever go completely to plan. Being on the front foot with full disclosure and open communication has always felt to me the way to operate. Tick.

I am sure all is not perfect on the project. It never is on any mega project. There will always be detractors, challenges that only perfect hindsight would have spotted, random political interventions. But project owners and project promoters can massively increase the chances of a project’s success by following global best practice, being assiduous in preparation, being agile in the face of uncertainty, and maintaining a sense of humour. Best wishes to Mumbai Metro Line 3. The team deserve it, and Mumbai will benefit enormously.