The Budget has been tabled in the Parliament. What effect it's going to have on your daily budget? Take a look at this slide show to find out how what's cheaper and what's costlier.

Are you a chain smoker? If so, seriously think about kicking the habit.

For, apart from affecting your health, smoking is going to burn a hole in your pocket as well with the finance minister proposing to raise duty on non-filter cigarettes during his Budget speech in the Lok Sabha on Friday.

Non-filter cigarettes, which were enjoying favourable tax regime, will now be brought on par with filter cigarettes which attract higher taxes.

For the smaller non-filter cigarettes not exceeding 60 mm length, the excise duty has been increased nearly five times to Rs 819 per 1,000 cigarettes from prevailing Rs 168.

But for the longer cigarettes, the excise duty has been increased by over two and half times to Rs 1,323 from Rs 546 for every 1,000 sticks.

An Indian man smokes a cigarette in Mumbai.

Were you planning to get yourself a new car? Well, wait till April 1.

For, Finance Minister P Chidambaram has proposed a reduction in the customs duty on small and hybrid cars during his Budget speech in the Lok Sabha on Friday.

Chidambaram has provided relief to auto manufacturers of hybrid cars by reducing the excise duty on them from 24 per cent to 14 per cent.

These cars are currently not on sale in India, and use a combination of electric motors with gasoline/diesel engines to enhance efficiency and reduce pollution.

Effective April 1, the move paves the way for manufacturers such as Honda Siel, Toyota India and Mahindra & Mahindra to immediately launch their vehicles that were on display at the Auto Expo in January.

These include the Honda Civic hybrid and the Mahindra Scorpio hybrid, while Toyota have displayed the technologies surrounding the Prius in past years.

Both the Prius and the Civic will enter through the import route, while the hybrid Scorpio will be developed and locally manufactured.

The Budget 2008-2009 proposal makes Tata's small car Nano more affordable.

Have you been postponing the purchase of a new washing machine? Is your purse not permitting you to get hold of a frost free refrigerator?

Well, thanks to Finance Minister P Chidambaram, you can now fulfil your wish.

"The manufacturing sector is the backbone of any economy. It is consumption that drives production and it is production that drives investment . . . I believe there is a need to give a stimulus to the manufacturing sector," Chidambaram said while presenting the General Budget for 2008-09 in Parliament on Friday.

He announced a 2 per cent general cut in excise duty on all consumer goods.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram has proposed a 2 per cent general cut in excise duty on all consumer goods.