Is the Center hiding a deficit we don't know about?

 "There is no end to the stalemate on the issue of borrowing to compensate the states for shortfall in revenue collection as the GST Council failed to reach consensus on the issue during its meeting on Monday." The Central government collects goods and services tax on all transactions in the country and is supposed to pay a compensation to the states in case of shortfall. States account for 60% of total government spending in India, so their revenue is essential for the economy. "The 14th Finance Commission set the share of states in central taxes at 42%. States' share reached a peak of 36.6% in 2018-19 and has fallen sharply since," wrote Roshan Kishore. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman explained that borrowing by the Center will raise yields and interest cost for both governments and the private sector. Given that tax collections are finite, why borrowing of an equivalent amount by state governments will not raise borrowing costs is not clear. "It is much more convenient for the Center to borrow to meet the shortfall in the cess fund," wrote Finance Minister of Kerala TM Thomas Isaac. "When there was a surplus in the cess fund, as was the case in the first two years, the surplus funds were deposited in the Consolidated Fund of India (CFI) Even the undistributed portion of IGST, which at times was over Rs 1 lakh crore (Rs 1 trillion) was deposited in public account of Government of India. Symmetry demands that when the cess fund is in deficit and requires temporary accommodation, the Government of India should support it." This was supported by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India which "found that the government itself violated the law by retaining Rs 47,272 crore (Rs 472.72 billion) of GST compensation cess in the CFI during 2017-18 and 2018-19, and used the money for other purposes". "The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) promised 'cooperative federalism' when it came to power in 2014; its manifesto for 2019 elections made the same promise," wrote Rajrishi Singhal. "That promise now stands broken." "The controversy surrounding the compensation for the loss of revenue to the states due to implementation of GST is not merely about revenue loss," wrote M Govinda Rao. "The real issue at stake is whether commitments and agreements will be honored or not." This government has a contempt for rules. On 20 September, the broadcast of a call for "division by count" by opposition members in the Rajya Sabha "never reached the public ear because footage was doctored to such an extent that it was muted", wrote KTS Tulsi and Tanessa Puri. "Stop crying wolf over democracy, enjoy the quality of sheep's clothing," advised TK Arun. Why is the Center so reluctant to borrow? Is it hiding a humongous deficit already?