GST council failed to reach a consensus on compensation due to sharp division along political lines. This allowed the Centre to let 20-odd states issue bonds to raise funds and meet the shortfall in the collection. Continuing from where they left, the 10 opposition-governed states and UTs pressed for the Centre to borrow the funds, something that finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman refused to do, arguing that higher-than-announced borrowings will increase the cost of funds for the government and the private sector. 'The impact will be less if states borrow… The Centre will facilitate borrowings to ensure cost is equitable for all states,' she said after the meeting, sticking to the stand taken even before the borrowing calendar for the second half of the year had been finalised.