Under Section 24 of the PFRDA Act, 2013, regarding the aggregate holding of equity shares by a foreign company in a pension fund, which of the following correctly states the statutory ceiling?

Section 24 of the PFRDA Act, 2013, contains a carefully drafted alternative ceiling: the aggregate holding "shall not exceed twenty-six per cent. of the paid-up capital of such fund or such percentage as may be approved for an Indian insurance company under the provisions of the Insurance Act, 1938, whichever is higher." This "whichever is higher" clause is designed to give foreign investors the more favourable route if the Insurance Act benchmark exceeds 26%. Option (A) is the literal 26% figure but misses the alternative; (B) inverts the comparison to "whichever is lower"; (C) and (D) import caps from unrelated statutes (an Authority-determined net worth cap and FEMA, respectively), neither of which appears in the text. The question is designed to trap candidates who remember the 26% figure as a standalone ceiling without noting the "whichever is higher" escape. The correct answer is (E).