MUMBAI, OCTOBER 8 A GREEING with Union Agriculture Minister and NCP president Sharad Pawar's stand against inviting mega projects to set shop in Maharashtra considering the prevalent power shortage, Revenue Minister Narayan Rane opposed the recent decision of the state government to seek opinion from farmers for the land acquisition for the MahaMumb.u SEZ in Raigad on the grounds that it would be detrimental to the state's industrial development. "This is true. He (Pawar) is a leader of the coalition, if he has said it, it is true. Which industry will run without electricity?" said Rane, speaking to reporters on Tuesday. "He is the head of the state. His stance is our stance," said Rane, agreeing with Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh's contention that the process of seeking opinions of the farmers for the proposed MahaMumbai SEZ in Raigad was not a referendum, and stoutly defended the SEZ. Adding that the Land Acquision Act of 1894 allowed foe eking the consent of the land owners before acquiring the land, Rane said in case such referendums were held "no land would be acquired for industries and power projects." This would eventually hurt the development of the state, he said. The decision on the fate of the SEZ would be taken after the district collector's report on the opinions of the farmers was received by the state government, said Rane. "We need to see which industries will be brought in (to Raigad) by the leaders (spearheading the anti-SEZ agitation) in case the SEZ is not set up," he added. Rane also rejected contentions that the consent of the farmers needed to be sought before acquiring their lands, and said SEZs, industries and power projects were necessary to help lakhs of students passing out from educational institutions to get jobs. He added that only one per cent of the farmers covered by the area of the Maha Mumbai SEZ were involved in agriculture, and earned around Rs 4,000 per acre by growing rice, provided the rainfall was good. Rane charged that the farmers were not willing to part with land for the canals to be set up for the Hetawane dam project and claimed that the youth in the districts like Thane, Raigad and Sindhudurg were not interested in farming. Rane is due to launch his newspaper 'Prahaar' at Pawar's hands on Wednesday, at a function, which will also be attended by Co-operation Minister Patangrao Kadam, a known baiter of the Chief Minister. Rane said the program was finalised when the Chief Minister was on a foreign tour, but had given him an invitation when he returned. Rane also said that he was not starting the newspaper to compete with the Shiv Sena mouthpiece 'Saamna,' and added it would be run in a professional manner. The newspaper, which will have Rane as a consulting editor, will be first launched in Mumbai and would cover the entire state by February next year.