Arun MN has taken Casagrand into Dubai with its first overseas project.
From Chennai Roots to Dubai Launch
Born and raised in Chennai in a close‑knit middle‑income family, Arun MN credits his upbringing for shaping his values. He says his father worked as a banker and taught him that “character comes far ahead of the wealth or money you can ever generate.”
My father was a banker, and I grew up with the value system that character comes far ahead of the wealth or money you can ever generate.
— Arun MN, Founder and Managing Director, Casagrand
From a young age he was fascinated by rags‑to‑riches stories and knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur. Mathematics captured his imagination, and during college he tried small ventures such as manufacturing shirts for corporate customers. After engineering and business studies he joined Wipro in a sales role, learning how to convince and influence people. Subsequent attempts in floriculture, farm‑produce and integrated farming did not become major successes, but each failure taught him valuable lessons.
Professionalising the Home‑Buying Process
The idea for Casagrand emerged in 2004 when Arun saw a gap in the housing sector. He observed that many industries had become highly professional, yet home buying remained informal. “We realised the housing business was not really being run very professionally,” he says. Casagrand set out to make the process more transparent, structured and customer‑focused, giving buyers greater confidence.
Since its start, Casagrand has expanded beyond its home market into Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune and Coimbatore. The Dubai entry marks the developer’s first international project, extending the same professional approach to a new market. Arun MN says the move reflects his long‑standing belief that character, happiness and peace should guide business growth, not just material gain.