NEED AND GENESIS Development of renewable and sustainable energy is critical for ensuring sustainability of development and an energy secure future. Fossil fuel based energy economy is predicted to be phased out in the next few decades. By 2050, 30% to 50% of all energy used by mankind will come from renewable sources of energy. But efforts in India towards developing this vital futuristic sector are inadequate. Some of the major problems faced by the renewable energy sector are lack of qualified manpower, scientific articulation of policy and legislative options, lack of awareness due to poor communication, etc... To overcome these vital shortcomings in the sector, there was an urgent need to create an institution that would play a holistic and critical role in shaping an energy secure future. This gave rise to the establishment of the World Institute of Sustainable Energy (WISE) in June 2004. The activities of WISE will thus provide a major impetus to the development of the renewable energy sector in all Indian states, who would immensely benefit from the trained pool of manpower, policy studies, research, publications, etc... to be developed by WISE.